


Cherry Meets the Little Mermaid

by PerkyGoth14



Category: The Little Mermaid (1989)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2016-01-01
Packaged: 2018-05-08 00:18:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 27,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5475968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerkyGoth14/pseuds/PerkyGoth14
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cherry and Atticus have gone their separate ways for summer vacation. Cherry is going to meet a prince at sea by the name of Eric while Atticus is going to visit his favorite cousin, Ariel. However, the two end up having a summer vacation together when Ariel wishes to be a human when she meets Eric and has to make a deal with the evil Ursula.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Cherry and Atticus were going separate ways for this summer vacation to spend with their families. Cherry's family was invited to meet a young man named Eric while Atticus was going to visit his mother's family who lived 'far away', but Atticus did not tell Cherry where. It looked like a perfect day to be out at sea.

"I sure wish I could tell Cherry." Atticus said.

"Same here." Patch said.

Atticus hugged Patch. "Have a good time with your family."

"Can do!" Patch agreed, he then ran to get on a truck that was going straight to Dearly Farm.

Atticus waved, he then met his family as they were ready to visit Emily's side of the family. "Alright, let's go."

"Atticus, what do you think Patch would look like if he was part merperson or mer-animal?" Darla asked.

"I never thought about it..." Atticus scratched his head.

"He'd probably turn into a fish..." Emily shrugged as she led the way. "Oh, before I forget, your Uncle Triton promised a surprise for later tonight for everybody in Atlantica, there'll be a concert sung by the girls."

"That'll be fun," Darla smiled. "I love concerts!"

"Well, then what are we waiting for? Let's get going so we won't be late." Jessica said.

Emily giggled to them.

"Lead the way, dear." Patrick told his wife.

Emily nodded and led them straight to the beach to a hidden location. Once they got there, they all got into the water and forced themselves in. They first held their breath, but Emily took out a shell necklace and there was a glow all around them and the Fudo family turned into merfolk.

"Alright to Atlantica!" Atticus cheered swimming off to the underwater sea kingdom.

"Slow down there!" Jessica rushed after her brother.

"Last one there's a rotten turtle egg!" Darla giggled as she joined in the race.

"Come on, dear, we better go or we'll get left behind." Patrick said to his wife, then saw she wasn't there. "Emily? Emily!"

"Wait up!" Emily swam after her children.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Patrick called out, swimming after his wife and children.

The family swam and swam. There was a hidden golden castle of Atlantica as the merpeople were getting ready for a celebration. This visit had been planned ahead of time and Triton decided to celebrate by giving a concert for his sister-in-law and her family. Urchin was next to Triton while they made arrangements, but it was boring Urchin since he was stuck there while the girls were getting ready to look their best for the concert.

Well, most of them, since a certain red-haired mermaid was going to be out with her best friend and her adoptive brother and also, possibly her favorite cousin. "Daddy, are they here yet?"

"Not yet, Ariel, they should be here any minute now though," Triton told his youngest daughter. "Where are your sisters?"

"Getting ready..." Ariel rolled her blue eyes. "Hey, Urchin..."

"Hey..." Urchin nodded to her.

"What're you doing out here?" Ariel asked.

"Getting bored to death." Urchin whispered.

"Well, as soon as they get here, your boredom will soon be over." Ariel whispered back.

"Hurry up." Urchin smirked.

Ariel giggled to that. Triton swam over to the others to make sure everything would be in order for tonight's celebration.

Soon, the Fudo family came.

"I don't see anyone!" Darla said as she swam and accidentally bumped into Urchin. "Oops!"

"Hey! You all finally made it." Urchin smiled.

Atticus and Jessica came to their foster cousin's sides.

"Oh, Urchin, I'm sorry..." Darla got up off him. "You okay...?"

"Heh... Fine... Glad you could make it..." Urchin smiled bashfully to her.

Darla smiled bashfully back.

"Ahem!" Jessica cleared her throat.

Darla blinked and looked over. "Oh... Umm... Atticus and Jessica are here too."

"Hey, guys." Urchin smiled to his foster cousins.

"So, Urchin, how is it having seven sisters?" Atticus smirked a little.

"Let's just say you are lucky that you have two sisters." Urchin said.

"Yeah, though I wouldn't mind having a brother..." Atticus rolled his eyes a little, though as a joke after he saw Darla and Jessica glaring at him. "Just kidding!"

"Uh-huh..." Darla folded her arms.

"Atticus!" Ariel swam right over and hugged the strong boy.

"Hey, Ariel." Atticus smiled, gently hugging her.

"Flounder and I are gonna go exploring," Ariel whispered to him. "You wanna come?"

"Um..." Atticus looked as Triton had the others still setting up for the affair for later today. "Will we have enough time?"

"I'm sure we will, come on!" Ariel giggled eagerly.

"Ariel, what are you up to now?" Urchin asked suspiciously.

"Come with me and you'll see." Ariel smiled.

Urchin rolled his copper eyes. This could not be good.

Patrick and Emily met and reunited with Triton, talking about what he had planned for their arrival.

"Where are we gonna go?" Darla asked the fish friend.

"Um, I dunno, Ariel said it was a surprise..." Flounder shrugged his fins. "Hopefully there'll be no sharks."

Meanwhile on dry land...

Cherry was standing with her parents as the birds were flying and the dolphins were swimming. "Mom, is this Eric guy coming soon?" she asked, feeling a little bored.

"Be patient." Michelle said.

"He'll be here soon." Bud added.

Cherry sighed, wiping her forehead. "Oh, well, at least it's not hot and I'm sweating... I HATE sweating..."

There was a boat riding over and was now docked. There came a young man with wavy black hair and blue eyes, he saw the family and walked up to them.

"Hello, are you Eric?" Michelle questioned.

"That would be me," the young man smiled. "Sorry, we had to go for a ride... It's such a lovely day for a boat ride."

"It sure is." Michelle smiled.

Cherry took out a pill and swallowed it with some water since they were going on a boat.

Eric helped them aboard. "You gonna be okay?" he asked Cherry.

"I'll be better now..." Cherry said softly.

"She gets seasick rather easily, that's why she needs to take those pills." Michelle said.

"Doctor and her mentor recommended them." Bud added.

"Mentor, huh?" Eric asked. "Well, hope she does okay."

A fluffy and messy sheepdog came to Cherry's side, trying to jump at her.

Cherry kept her distance. "I-I'm not much of a dog person..." she muttered.

"Don't worry, Max won't hurt you." Eric promised.

"He sure seems to be excited." Bud said.

"Max was always like that..." Eric chuckled as he ruffled up his dog's fur.

Cherry stood on the edge and looked out to the sea.

"It's a shame your friend couldn't join us," Michelle said to her daughter, referring to Atticus. "Where did you say he was going?"

"Meeting his mother's family, they live far away from home..." Cherry shrugged.

The sailors were ready and they moved the boat out into the sea as it was a perfect day for the activity. There was fog, but luckily, it did not blind anybody.

"So strange, the weather man never said anything about a fog." Bud said.

"Neither did my phone..." Michelle looked at the weather app on her iPhone.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Eric was excited. "Isn't this great though? The salty sea air, the wind blowing in your face?"

Max barked in agreement.

"Perfect day to be at sea, right, guys?" Eric asked the others.

Unfortunately, an old man seemed to be seasick and wasn't doing too good.

"Oh, yes..." the old man gulped. "Delightful..."

"Better him than me..." Cherry muttered to herself.

"A fine wind and a following sea," a sailor commented. "King Triton must be in a friendly type mood." he said happily added, as he tied a rope up with Eric helping him.

"King Triton?" Eric and Cherry asked.

"Who's he?" Bud asked.

"Why, ruler of the merpeople, lad," one sailor answered to him as he gently pet Max. "Thought every good sailor knew about him."

"Merpeople," the old man scoffed. "Pay no attention to that fool," he told Eric and the visiting family. "It's all nautical nonsense."

"That's what they said about witches." Michelle muttered under her breath.

"But it ain't nonsense!" the second sailor argued with the old man as he grabbed a fish to take out of the water before putting it back and not going to cook it up to eat as a meal. "It's the truth! They live in all depths of the ocean!"

"Cool, wish I could meet a real mermaid." Michelle said.

"Aw, Mom..." Cherry hid an eye roll.

The fish dove underwater, once it got there, it let out a breath of relief and swam off.


	2. Chapter 2

Other fish and merpeople were on their way to Triton's place. Attina, Alana, Adella, Aquata, Arista, and Adriana swam out of their room and came to meet Patrick, Emily, and Jessica.

"Hey, girls." Jessica smiled.

"Hey, Jessica," Adella smiled. "Oh, your hair looks great."

"Are you excited about tonight?" Arista gushed. "A concert all about us and you're here to visit!"

"Yeah..." Jessica said to her cousins. "It's really great to see you all."

"I have a feeling..." Adella chewed her lip nervously. "What if the concert doesn't go well?"

"You're just worried you'll look silly with a cute boy watching." Attina teased her boy crazy sister.

"What?! No." Adella said.

This made the others giggle to her.

"Well... Maybe..." Adella smiled sheepishly with a shrug.

"Addie, it'll be fine..." Arista rolled her eyes. "When have we ever messed anything up?"

"You got a good point there." Adella smiled.

"Unless, we missed a rehearsal..." Arista sounded fearful. 

"Jessica, we have to take our seats now!" Patrick called to his oldest child.

"Break a.... Umm... Tail fin..." Jessica gave her cousins two thumb's up in luck.

The young mermaids smiled back and copied her as she swam off to join her parents. As soon as she was gone, they looked to their hands.

"What does this mean?" Alana wondered.

"I think that means good luck." Arista said.

The mermaid sisters then gave thumb's up to each other.

"Girls, get ready!" Triton's voice said.

"But wait, where's Ariel?" Adriana wondered.

"She's probably already in her shell, come on, we have a show to do!" Alana said as she swam ahead.

"Me first, I'm the oldest!" Attina reminded her sisters.

'Oh, brother.' Arista thought to herself with a groan.

The other merpeople and fish swam in and took their seats. Jessica sat with Patrick and Emily, but noticed that Darla, Urchin, Atticus, and Ariel were missing. Hopefully they would catch up. 

A seahorse wearing an Elizabethan collar swam out as everyone filed into their seats. "His royal highness, King Triton!" he announced.

Everyone then began to cheer as the king of the sea was coming in. Patrick, Jessica, and Emily smiled fondly. Triton rode a clam-shell pulled by a couple of dolphins and he rose his trident to blast a chandelier. There came colorful and harmless sparks down to the crowd which excited them even more.

"And presenting the distinguished court composer, Horatio Thelonious Ignatius Crustaceous Sebastian!" the seahorse then announced for the famed crab of Atlantica.

Almost no one applauded for Sebastian as he rode in his own ride.

"Are those goldfish?" Jessica asked.

"Looks like it..." Emily noticed as well.

Jessica sighed and shook her head. "Poor Sebastian..."

Sebastian had a word with Triton, then took his stand, tapping his conductor's stick, and swayed it as orchestra music played. As the orchestra music played, six shells began to come up.

'Oh, Athena, I wish you could be here to see this...' Emily thought to herself as she gently squeezed her husband's hand.

Patrick knew exactly what she was thinking and gently squeezed back. The shells slowly opened up to reveal the other sisters, Ariel was not supposed to be with them, at least not yet, so her absence was actually excusable.

'Good so far.' Jessica thought to herself.

The mermaids introduced themselves as the daughters of Triton and each of them gave their name while singing a lovely tune. Sebastian smiled as this was going a lot better than he thought it would. The merpeople and the fish enjoyed the song and were ready for the grand finale that would introduce the youngest and most special of the seven sisters. The giant clam-shell opened up, but there was no one in there!

"Oh, no..." Jessica said with widened eyes.

"AAAAAAARRRIEEEL!!!" Triton yelled, very angry about his youngest daughter not being there for her cue.

Meanwhile, Ariel was leading Atticus, Darla, Urchin, and Flounder to a sunken ship.

"Guys, wait for me!" Flounder called as he was slower than the others.

"Flounder, hurry up." Ariel told her best friend.

"You know I can't swim that fast!" Flounder whined.

"So, where's this thing?" Urchin asked.

Ariel pointed to the sunken ship. "There it is," she said to them. "Isn't it fantastic?"

"That's what you wanted us to see? A sunken ship?!" Darla asked.

"Uh, yeah, it's fantastic..." Flounder said before trying to swim away. "Now, let's get outta here!"

Ariel held back her best friend. "You're not getting cold fins, are you?"

"Who me? Ah, never..." Flounder made up excuses. "It looks... Damp in there... Yeah, and I think I might be coming down with something..." he then coughed unconvincingly. "Yeah, I got this cough..."

"Oh, brother," Atticus rolled his eyes and then smirked. "Fine, we'll go inside, you can just stay out here and watch for sharks."

"Sharks?" Darla asked.

"Shh..." Urchin took her hands and swam with her, Atticus, and Ariel over to the ship, knowing what Ariel was thinking.

"Okay, you guys go," Flounder nodded in agreement. "I'll stay and--What!? SHARKS!?" he then swam after them, but got stuck. "Guys, I can't, I mean, HELP!"

"Oh, Flounder." Ariel laughed before giving him some help.

"I knew that you would come in with us if I mentioned sharks." Atticus smirked.

"Hmm..." Flounder glanced at him. "If you weren't Ariel's cousin..."

They then explored after Flounder was finally free.

"Um, Urchin, are there really sharks around here?" Darla asked nervously as she held the merboy's hand as they swam around.

"Nah, there haven't been any sharks around here in years." Urchin assured her.

"Oh..." Darla smiled peacefully then.

"This is great--I mean, I really love this," Flounder rambled on as they explored in the old ship. "Excitement, adventure, danger lurking around every corn--" he then saw a pirate skeleton which frightened him and made him scream. "GUYS!" he then accidentally crashed into a pillar and swam frantically away as the ship nearly caved in.

"Whoa, you okay?" Atticus asked, catching the frightened fish.

"Yeah... Sure... No problem..." Flounder breathed weakly, but was not badly hurt. 

Ariel saw something that caught her attention and she swam for it. "Urchin, look at this!" she told her foster brother.

Urchin looked to see. "Oh, my gosh, that's incredible!"

"What is it!?" Darla swam over eagerly and curious. 

"Darla, have you ever seen anything so wonderful in all your life?" Ariel showed Darla a table fork.

Darla's excitement grew to disappointment. "Uh, yeah, that's a--"

"It's a-a-a dinglehopper." Atticus lied after covering his adopted younger sister's mouth.

"Dinglehopper?" Darla muffled behind Atticus's hand.

"I bet Scuttle could tell us more about it." Ariel suggested, putting her fork into her bag.

Something swam outside, which made Urchin shake only slightly.

"What was that?" Urchin wondered.

"Did you see something?" Atticus asked.

"Maybe we should go..." Urchin looked nervous. "I sense trouble."

"Hmm... I wonder what this one is?" Ariel asked herself as she picked up a pipe.

Flounder had the same feeling. "Uh, A-A-Ariel...?"

"Flounder, will you and Urchin relax, nothing bad is going to happen." Atticus said.

Urchin and Flounder looked very nervous. The two then looked behind them and saw a shark looming behind them which frightened them. Urchin had been wrong about the shark thing.

"RUN!" Flounder yelled. "We're gonna die!"

"I thought you said that there haven't been any sharks here in years?" Darla asked Urchin.

"Um, oops?" Urchin chuckled sheepishly with a shrug.

They all swam as quickly as they could as the shark chased them all around.

"Wait, Atticus, since you're the strongest out of all of us shouldn't you be, oh, I don't know, fighting off that thing?!" Darla exclaimed.

"I'm thinking!" Atticus said as he swam. "I'm thinking!"

"Well think faster!" Flounder cried. "I don't plan on becoming sushi!"

"Me neither!" Darla cried.

"Hey, you want me?" Atticus taunted the shark. "Come and get me!"

The shark snarled aggressively, going after him. Atticus then swam around, going to make it harder for the shark and made the shark crash, getting trapped, once the shark was trapped, he led through a way out for his friends and family. They went through the porthole and made it out as the shark snapped its mouth at them, but couldn't escape.

"You big bully." Flounder said before blowing raspberries at the meat eater.

The shark chomped, but did not bite or eat Flounder. Flounder then swam off after the others.

"Flounder, you really are a guppy." Ariel teased.

"Am not!" Flounder whined.

"Are too." Urchin chuckled.

"Are not!" Flounder whined.

"Are too!" Atticus and Darla chuckled.


	3. Chapter 3

They managed to get away from the shark as Ariel led them to a friend of hers.

"So, who is this Scuttle guy then?" Darla asked.

"Yeah, who is he?" Atticus asked.

"He knows all about the surface world." Ariel said to them.

Darla and Atticus looked to each other and stopped as the others swam ahead.

"She doesn't know we're humans?" Darla asked her adoptive brother.

"Does she not remember?" Atticus asked.

Darla shrugged herself.

"Come on, slowpokes!" Ariel called for them.

Atticus and Darla then swam after the others.

There was a seagull on a tiny island who was on the dry land and sitting around peacefully.

"Scuttle!" Ariel called out.

The seagull got nervous at his name being called, but held his binoculars the other way and saw the group far away from him. "Whoa! Mermaids off the port bow! Ariel, how ya doin', kid?" he then put them down to see Ariel was right in front of him with the others. "Whoa... What a swim..."

"Okay, I think Ariel might need a memory check." Darla whispered to Atticus.

"I agree." Atticus whispered back.

"Scuttle, look what we've found." Ariel put her bag next to the bird.

"Yeah, you should've been there," Urchin added. "We went to a sunken ship!"

"Yeah and it was really creepy." Flounder added.

"Human stuff, huh?" Scuttle took a look at the bag and took out the fork. "Let's see."

"Atticus says that's a 'dinglehopper'." Ariel told the seagull.

"And he's right, that must mean he's either seen these close up or he's part human." Scuttle said.

This caused for Ariel to remember the day Atticus, Darla, and their family had first arrived in Atlantica.

"Uncle Patrick's human, isn't he?" Ariel asked.

"Yes, don't you remember?" Darla replied. "I'm a mermaid too because Mama Emily let me have some magic so I could come to Atlantica with you after I got adopted by them."

"Of course I remember, I don't know how I could have forgotten." Ariel said.

Darla rolled her eyes.

"So, what does a dinglehopper do, Scuttle?" Urchin asked the seagull.

"Humans used these little babies to straighten their hair out," Scuttle explained while demonstrating by twisting his feathers on top of his head, making it spiky. "See? Just give it a little twirl here and yank there and... Viola! You got an aesthetically pleasing configuration of hair that humans go nuts over!"

"Sure, let's go with that." Darla said.

"A dinglehopper..." Ariel held the fork in content.

"What about that one?" Flounder gestured to the pipe.

"Oh, man!" Scuttle grew excited. "This I haven't seen in years! This is wonderful! It's ailed, a banded, bulbous snarfblatt."

"Ooooh..." Ariel, Flounder, and Urchin said, amazed.

"Yeah, or as humans call it a pipe where, um, humans use it for, uh, entertainment." Atticus lied.

"Thank you for reminding me, my boy!" Scuttle said to Atticus. "Now, Ariel, Urchin, you see... The snarfblat dates back to prehistorical times, when humans used to sit around, and stare at each other all day. Got very boring. So, they invented the snarfblat to make fine music... Allow me." he then started to blow into the pipe and seaweed popped out of the end.

"Music?" Ariel asked, then hit her forehead once she remembered something extremely important. "Oh, the concert! Oh, my gosh, my father, Aunt Emily, and Uncle Patrick are gonna kill us!"

"The concert was today?!" Flounder asked with a gasp.

"Oh, man, we are so dead," Atticus groaned. "Metaphorically speaking."

"Maybe you could use a little planter or somethin'..." Scuttle still contemplated the pipe.

"Um, sorry, we gotta go!" Urchin grabbed Ariel's bag. "Thanks, Scuttle, this was fun!"

"Anytime, guys, anytime!" Scuttle waved to them.

'Oh, we are in so much trouble.' Darla thought to herself.

Atticus, Ariel, Darla, Urchin, and Flounder swam back to Atlantica as quickly as they could. Unknown to them, they were being watched.

Meanwhile, back at the palace...

"Now, now, Uncle Triton, please try to calm down a little..." Jessica smiled sheepishly to her maternal uncle.

"Calm down?" Triton asked out of anger. "How can I calm down?!"

Jessica flinched and hid closer between her parents.

"Yes, it's bad of them to miss the concert, but they couldn't have gotten too far," Patrick soothed. "Also, don't yell at my daughter."

"I'm sorry, but the concert was ruined." Triton said.

"Now, now, I'm sure there's a good reason for this..." Emily soothed with a smile, then looked away a little angrily. "There better be one!"

The other sisters poked their heads out from backstage and hid away again.

"Girls..." Triton called sharply to his other daughters. "Are you eavesdropping?"

"No." Adella's voice said before squeaking.

The others glanced to her.

"Bad Adella, bad!" Attina scolded.

"It was your idea!" Adriana told her eldest sister.

"All of you, go to your room this instant!" Triton scattered the girls.

"Yes, Father." The six sisters bowed their heads before going to their room.

"Um... Jessie, why don't you go with them?" Emily suggested. "This might get ugly..."

Jessica nodded to her mother and followed her cousins to their room.

"Who knows, maybe they forgot about the whole concert." Urchin's voice said.

"Doubt it." Ariel's voice replied.

"Same here." Atticus's voice said.

"I'll see you guys later..." Flounder decided to run, or rather, swim along home.

Urchin, Darla, Atticus, and Ariel said goodbye to him and floated to see rather unhappy adult merpeople.

"Oh, we are in so much trouble." Darla groaned.

"Uhh... You guys look mad... I'm just gonna run along now, bye!" Urchin tried to swim off. But he didn't get far as Atticus held him back by grabbing his right shoulder.

"Oh, no, you don't." Atticus said.

Urchin looked very nervous now.

"So... How was the concert?" Darla smiled nervously.

"You really wanna ask that question right now?" Emily looked at her adoptive daughter funny.

"Yeah... Sorry... That was stupid..." Darla mumbled.

"We're in trouble, aren't we?" Urchin asked.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, you all are..." Triton sounded strict. 

Ariel was very nervous. Triton took Ariel and Urchin to the throne room while Patrick and Emily were in the guest room with Atticus and Darla. 

'I have a bad feeling we're in for a big punishment.' Darla thought to herself.

"Mom... Dad... I know you're mad, but we can explain." Atticus spoke up. 

"We know you didn't mean to miss the concert, but you know how important it was to your Uncle Triton." Patrick said to the children.

"We know." Atticus and Darla frowned.

"Why didn't you remind Ariel?" Emily asked. 

"Guess we forgot too..." Darla pouted. 

"It's true." Atticus frowned.

"We know you didn't mean it, but this was really important to Triton and Sebastian..." Emily reminded them. "We're not mad at you two, we're just disappointed." 

"So, we're not going to be punished?" Darla asked, noticing that they rarely got punished.

"No, you won't be punished, but we'd like you to say sorry to your Uncle Triton and Sebastian." Patrick replied. 

"Yes, sir." Atticus bowed.

"Yes, Daddy Patrick." Darla added.

"Go along, but wait until he's done with Ariel and Urchin." Emily advised.

Atticus and Darla nodded, then went to the throne room as Triton was speaking with Ariel and Urchin. 

"Okay, no matter what, we don't go in there until Uncle Triton is done with them." Atticus whispered.

"Why?" Darla asked.

"Trust me." Atticus told her.

Darla bit her lip as they waited, she was hoping Triton wouldn't be too harsh. And where inside the throne room it sounded like he was being almost a bit too harsh.

Flounder swam by.

"Flounder?" Darla and Atticus asked.

"I couldn't go home, I just couldn't live with the fact if Ariel got in trouble..." Flounder explained. 

"What a loyal friend." Atticus smiled.

Flounder smiled back.


	4. Chapter 4

"I just don't know what we're going to do with you two." Triton said to his daughter and adoptive son.

"Dad, I'm sorry, we just forgot..." Ariel apologized.

"As as result of your reckless behavior--" Triton started.

"Careless and reckless behavior!" Sebastian quickly added.

"The entire concert was--" Triton tried to continue.

"Well, it was ruined!" Sebastian finished for him. "That's all! Completely destroyed! This concert was the pinnacle of my distinguished career. Now thanks to you, I am the laughing stock of the entire kingdom!" 

Even though he told Darla that they had to wait until Triton was done with their cousins, Atticus wasn't liking how Sebastian was talking to Ariel and Urchin.

"But it wasn't their fault!" Atticus and Flounder told the crab while swimming inside.

"Yeah, first the shark attacked us!" Darla stepped in. "Yeah, yeah, and we tried to, but then we couldn't! And then we--Whoa, we were safe! But then this seagull came, and this, and that, and--"

That caught Triton's attention. "Seagull?"

"Oops..." Darla feared she shouldn't have said that.

"Oh... You went up to the surface again, didn't you?" Triton asked his daughter. 

"Nothing happened." Urchin told him nervously.

"Didn't you?" Triton then asked sharply.

"Oh, Ariel, Urchin, how many times do we have to go through with this?" Triton sighed, shaking his head. "You could have been seen by one of those barbarians... B-By... One of those humans..."

"Daddy, they're not barbarians!" Ariel scolded.

"They're dangerous," Triton insisted. "I know your aunt and uncle never would, but do you think I want to see my youngest children snared by some fish-eater's hook?"

"Dad, we're sixteen and nine-years-old, we're not children anymore!" Urchin retorted. 

"Technically being a nine-year-old would still mean that you're a child." Darla said. 

"Not helping, Goldilocks." Urchin glanced at her.

"Don't you take that tone of voice with me, you two!" Triton scolded Ariel and Urchin. "As long as you both live under my ocean, you'll obey my rules!" 

"But if you would just listen--!" Ariel and Urchin told him before getting interrupted.

"Not another word!" Triton silenced them. "And I am never, NEVER to hear of you going up to the surface again. IS THAT CLEAR!?"

'Okay, that was a bit too much.' Atticus thought to himself.

Ariel was emotionally upset, she swam off and started to cry.

"Ariel!" Urchin cried, going after his foster sister. 

"I hope you're happy." Atticus glared at his uncle before going after his favorite cousin.

"She has rules to follow..." Triton insisted.

"That was rather crude, Uncle Triton..." Darla said to him, folding her arms. "You probably crushed their spirits!" Before anything else was said, she joined up with them.

Ariel swam off to be alone, she thought maybe her collection on human things would cheer her up. 

"Hey, where are you going?" Urchin asked.

"Just gonna be alone with my stuff..." Ariel sighed.

"Let me go with you..." Urchin offered with a joking smile to show what the next thing he said was going to be a joke. "I'm in trouble too." 

"Oh, alright." Ariel smiled.

Darla and Atticus watched Ariel and Urchin go and decided to also join in. Sebastian was going to check on things. Ariel was still upset as she sat in her grotto, very depressed about the argument she had with her father.

"Ariel, are you okay?" Urchin asked.

"If only I could make him understand..." Ariel sniffled. 

"Well, he just has a time not trusting other humans." Atticus said.

"Atticus?" Ariel looked over to see her cousins coming over.

"Hi." Darla smiled.

"Hey, Goldilocks." Urchin said to her.

"My name is Darla." the blonde girl narrowed her eyes slightly.

"I like Goldilocks better..." Urchin chuckled, ruffling up her hair.

Ariel still sulked. "I just don't see things the way he does... I don't see how such a world that makes such wonderful things... Could be bad." 

"Some humans are evil." Atticus said.

"But Aunt Emily and Uncle Patrick aren't evil." Ariel insisted. 

"That's because Mom is a mermaid and as for Dad, yeah, he isn't evil, he's one of those humans that are not evil." Atticus explained.

Ariel shook her head before she started to sing. "I mean... Just... Look at this stuff.... Isn't it neat, wouldn't you say my collection's complete?~"

'Is this really the time for singing?' Atticus thought to himself.

"Wouldn't you think that I'm the girl, the girl who has everything?~" Ariel nearly continued to sing.

"Uh, Ariel, let me stop you right there," Darla put her hands up. "You wanna leave this world and become part of the human world, don't you?"

"Oh, more than anything..." Ariel replied with an excited smile. "If Aunt Emily could do it, I don't see why I couldn't either... I mean, you guys are so lucky to be humans!" 

"Well, um, Ariel, being a human isn't that great." Atticus said.

"Oh, come on..." Ariel said to Atticus and Darla. "I just wanna have.... What do you call them? Oh... Feet."

"Well, feet are fun to have." Darla smiled.

"I just wanna be part of their world..." Ariel smiled dreamily.

"You've liked humans a long time, huh?" Urchin asked.

"Aunt Emily used to tell me stories," Ariel explained. "She wanted to be human too... I don't know how she did it, but she got to live on land with a human family. She told me how she loved running in the field around summertime with her cowgirl doll she called 'Jessie'. I think she named Jessica after it."

"You're right." Atticus said.

"It just sounds magical..." Ariel smiled.

"I don't think I'd mind being a human myself..." Urchin seemed to agree. 

"Oh, no, no, you guys should stay the way you are..." Atticus insisted. "Trust me, being a human is boring... Unless you're like me and go on adventures with friends..."

Sebastian was listening in on them, though unintentionally, he was asked to keep an eye on the younger children.

"Well, at least it's better than always swimming." Ariel said.

"I love swimming though!" Darla said to her.

"Yeah, but try doing it the rest of your life..." Ariel swam in a circle around her. "It can make you kinda sick."

"Hmm..." Darla never thought about it like that before.

There was a crash from a lantern heard which caught all of their attention as a familiar crab was now stuck with a necklace, pipe, and crashed against a lantern.

"Sebastian?!" Ariel, Atticus, Urchin, and Darla asked in surprise and out of shock.

"Ariel, what!?" Sebastian panicked at the sight. "Are you mad!? How could you, what is all of this!?"

"I-It's just my collection." Ariel defended sheepishly.

"Oh, I see, your collection..." Sebastian smiled calmly at first before suddenly scolding. "IF YOUR FATHER KNEW ABOUT THIS PLACE, HE WOULD--"

"You're not gonna tell him, are you?" Flounder asked, fearfully.

"Oh, please, Sebastian, he would never understand." Ariel begged.

"Ariel, Urchin, you're both under a lot of pressure here," Sebastian came to the younger children in the royal family. "Come with me, I'll give you both something warm to drink. Maybe your cousins would like to come too?"

They were on their way to swimming back home in the palace. A ship passed by overhead of them.

"What do you suppose...?" Ariel asked before swimming out of the grotto and then swimming up to the surface to see what it was.

"Ariel?" Urchin and Flounder turned their heads and swam after her.

Atticus and Darla were still following Sebastian. Sebastian then noticed that Ariel, Urchin, and Flounder were swimming up to the surface and just knew that he had to follow after them. Atticus and Darla were now following too.

"I hope no one takes them away..." Darla trembled slightly.

They came up to the surface with their heads out, it was night time on dry land with fireworks and there was a ship that was docked for the night with lively music playing. 

"Wow..." Urchin was impressed. "Looks like a party! But ya know, it's not a party unless I show up." he then chuckled.

"What are you two--" Sebastian came between Ariel and Urchin, but then looked at the ship. "JUMPING JELLYFISH!"

"Wow, looks like someone must be celebrating something." Darla smiled.

"Come on!" Ariel smiled, already swimming ahead to the ship to see what the fuss was about.

Urchin grinned and followed after.

Darla held his arm back. "Uncle Triton might beach you or something..."

"Aw, come on, Goldilocks, have a sense of adventure!" Urchin smirked to her.

Darla was about to react to that, but then saw Atticus going with Ariel. She stuttered, feeling alone since the others went ahead and she gave into peer pressure, going with them as she grumbled slightly.

"Please come back!" Sebastian tried to stop the children.

But none of them came back, they just continued on. Ariel led the way of course.


	5. Chapter 5

This ship had Eric with the Butler family on it. Cherry was sitting in a corner, not really being social like her mother.

"Oh, come on, Cherry, join in the fun." Bud said.

"This would just be better if I had a friend with me..." Cherry said softly and mysteriously. She may had been a goth, but she liked doing things with her friends a lot more than with just her parents as she got older.

Unknown to her, Ariel, Urchin, Atticus, and Darla were arriving at the ship. Max was wondering around the ship, he could sense something and he sniffed all around. Ariel hid her face at first, but then looked again to be face-to-face with the sheepdog. Max smield at Ariel and licked her cheek.

"Aw! A doggy." Darla smiled.

"Max, where are you?" Eric's voice called.

Max heard his master and rushed over to him. Ariel rubbed her face as she looked among the humans and her eyes landed on Eric and it looked it love at first sight.

'Looks like someone has fallen in love.' Darla thought to herself with a smile.

"I think I'm in love..." Ariel whispered.

Urchin made a look of disgust. "Guh... Cooties..."

"Oh, come on, Urchin, grow up." Darla said.

"I am grown up!" Urchin retorted before blowing a raspberry.

"Hey, there, guys!" Scuttle flew up next to them. "Quite a show, eh?"

"Scuttle, quiet, or else they'll hear you." Atticus whispered.

"Oh... I gotcha... I gotcha..." Scuttle quietly nodded. "We're being intrepidatious..." he then yelled out. "WE'RE OUT TO DISCOVER!"

Ariel slammed his beak shut and smiled dreamily to Eric. "I've never seen any other human this up close before... Oh, he's very handsome, isn't he?"

Scuttle was looking at Max when she said that. "I dunno, he looks kinda hairy and slobbery to me."

"She's not talking about the dog, genius, she's talking about the human that's playing the, um, snarfblat." Atticus told him.

"My bad..." Scuttle muttered.

The party was going wonderfully, even if Cherry was a little lonely and gloomy. 

But then the music was stopped by the old man that got sea sick. "Silence, SILENCE!"

There was now silence as the merchildren, seagull, crab, and fish watched.

"It is now my honor and privilege to present our esteemed Prince Eric with a very special, very expensive, very large birthday present." the old man announced.

"Grimsby, ya old beanpole," Eric chuckled. "You shouldn't have."

"I know..." the old man chuckled, revealing a rather gaudy statue of the young man. "Happy Birthday, Eric!"

This caused for Max to growl at the statue, not liking it one bit.

"Gee... Grim... It's... It's..." Eric stuttered. "It's erm... Really something..."

"Yes, I commissioned it myself," Grimsby smiled. "Of course, I had hoped it would be a wedding present, but--"

"Come on, Grim, don't start." Eric shook his head.

"What's wrong?" Cherry asked.

"Oh, it's just that I think he's still a little sore because I didn't fall for the Princess of Glauerhaven." Eric guessed.

"Grimsby, give it up, Eric is going to marry the right girl when he meets her." Bud said.

"Oh, nonsense, it's not just me, but the entire kingdom wants to see Eric happily settled down with the right girl." Grimsby retorted.

"You can't force him to love someone, the right girl is out there and it's up to him alone to find her." Michelle agreed with her husband.

"Perhaps he just hasn't been looking hard enough." Grimsby retorted.

"Believe me, Grim," Eric said to the old man. "When I find her, I'll know, without a doubt, it'll just hit me, like lightning!"

"Yeah, after that, you can find someone for me." Cherry added weakly.

"Don't worry, dear, you'll find someone soon." Michelle assured her daughter.

Suddenly, thunder and lightning came.

"Hurricane's a-comin'!" a sailor called. "Stand fast! Secure the riggin'!"

'Uh-Oh, a storm, that must mean Uncle Triton is angry.' Darla thought to herself.

"Whoa, the wind's all the sudden on a move here!" Scuttle called.

"Take cover!" Urchin called to the others.

"We better get to someplace safe!" Atticus called back.

The wind was going strong.

"Atticus?" Cherry could had sworn she heard her friend's voice.

"Cherry!" Michelle and Bud cried for their daughter.

Cherry looked over to them and rushed to their sides. Bud helped the sailors the best that he could.

"Everybody, hang on!" Ariel called out.

The lightning struck and caused a flame to appear on the ship.

"Fire!" Michelle screamed.

The ship was now coming apart and they were being thrown overboard. Cherry struggled in the water, she could not swim. But she then felt something under her help her to a boat.

"Whoa, what?" Cherry was not sure what that was, but she was being pushed to a boat to be with her parents.

Michelle picked up her daughter and helped her into the boat. "Are you all right!?"

"I think so..." Cherry held her mother.

"Cherry, I thought you couldn't swim." Bud said.

"I/She can't..." Cherry and Michelle said to him together in confusion.

"Then maybe you have a guardian angel that helped you." Bud said.

"Oh, I don't know about that..." Cherry folded her arms. "Grandma was my guardian angel when I was little though... Even though I barely remember her, I miss her a lot..."

"Oh, come here..." Michelle hugged her daughter.

"Is Prince Eric okay?" Cherry looked around.

"I'm afraid we can't find him, but everyone is looking." Bud replied.

"I sure hope he's alright." Michelle said.

"I'm sure he'll be fine..." Bud soothed his wife.

Cherry watched as the ship exploded from the storm. What a night this turned out to be... Then out of the corner of her eye, Cherry could have sworn she saw Atticus and Darla. Cherry removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes, putting her glasses back on, and the two faded.

"You okay, Cherry Girl?" Bud asked.

"I think I must've swallowed some sea water..." Cherry shook her head.

"Well, hopefully this storm won't last long." Michelle said.

"I certainly hope so, Mom..." Cherry frowned.

While they were going, Ariel had taken Eric's unconscious body and decided to take him to shore. She had some help from Urchin, Atticus, and Darla. When the storm faded, it became the next morning.

Eric was laid down on the sand on the dry land. Scuttle came over with them.

"Is he... Dead...?" Ariel asked, worriedly since Eric was barely moving.

"I'll check his pulse." Atticus said, placing two fingers on Eric's neck to feel the heart pulse.

"Way ahead of ya, though I can't make out a heartbeat." Scuttle said as he was at Eric's foot.

Eric shifted slightly.

"No, look, he's breathing!" Ariel noticed in giddiness. "He's so beautiful..."

Urchin rolled his eyes. "Yuck..."

"If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." Darla said.

"Who are you, my mother?" Urchin retorted.

"Oh, you are impossible!" Darla groaned at the merboy.

Urchin smirked with a sinister giggle.

"What now?" Darla asked.

Ariel started to sing to the knocked out Eric. Flounder smiled as he came up to shore, but not too long since he needed water to breathe. Sebastian stared, jaw-dropped that Ariel was interacting with a human she did not know and Scuttle shut his mouth.

"How romantic." Darla sighed.

"I think I'm gonna be sick..." Urchin gagged.

"Urchin, haven't you ever been in love?" Darla asked.

"Never have, never will, and I know why, it's gross." Urchin wrinkled his nose.

"Oh, brother." Atticus rolled his eyes.

Eric's icy blue eyes slowly opened up and he saw Ariel looking right at him and singing to him. Max was now coming down the beach to find Eric with the others.

"SWIM AWAY!" Ariel told her family so they could hide before the humans could see them.

"Swim for your lives!" Flounder told them.

The sea creatures disappeared once Eric was now alone on shore.

"There he is!" Bud called as he ran with Max to find Eric.

"Oh, thank goodness." Michelle sighed.

"You really delight in these sadistic strains on my blood pressure, don't you?" Grimsby came to Eric's side.

"A girl rescued me... She was singing..." Eric breathed. "She had the most beautiful voice..."

"I think you swallowed a bit too much sea water." Bud said.

"Right then... Off we go..." Grimsby nodded.

"You believe me, don't you, Cherry?" Eric asked.

"Uhhh...." Cherry shrugged in response.

"I think you just need some rest as soon as we get you to the castle." Michelle smiled.

Grimsby and Cherry's parents then helped Eric back to the castle. Cherry walked with them, humming slightly.

"That was close." Urchin said.

"I'll say," Sebastian agreed. "Now, we just gotta forget this whole thing ever happened. The sea king will never know. You won't tell him, I won't tell him. I will stay in one piece."

"Hey, where'd Ariel go?" Darla asked.

"She went up that rock." Atticus pointed. 

Ariel was still determined to be part of Prince Eric's world, no matter how boring her cousins made being a human sounded.

'She's not going to give up that easily.' Atticus thought to himself.

They all returned under the sea while Cherry and her family returned to Prince Eric's home.


	6. Chapter 6

Ariel was hogging the dressing room while her sisters were very annoyed.

"Ariel, dear, it's time to come out," Adriana said. "You've been in there all morning."

When Ariel came out of the dressing room, she was humming.

"What is with her lately?" Attina slightly scoffed.

Ariel bumped into her father as Jessica was coming to see the girls. "Morning, Daddy..." she smiled to him, putting a flower behind his ear, and then hugged her cousin. "Hello, Jessica..." she then let go and continued to swim off with a song in her heart.

"Oh, she's got it bad..." Attina now realized what was up with their sister.

"Yep, she sure does." Jessica nodded.

"What?" Triton asked in confusion. "What's she got?"

"Isn't it obvious, Daddy?" Adriana asked before looking all romantic like. "Ariel's in love~..."

"Ariel?" Triton asked, sounding interested. "In love?"

Jessica looked relieved. Normally fathers get unusual when their daughters fall in love, but Triton was handling it rather maturely.

"Come on, Jessica, let's give you a makeover!" Alana pulled on her cousin's arm.

"Yes, yes!" Adriana agreed.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming." Jessica giggled.

"You'll be to die for once we're done with you." Alana smirked.

Jessica rolled her eyes, but went with her cousins to get a makeover.

Urchin was still disgusted by all this lovey dovey stuff with Ariel, but overheard other singing he had not heard before. "That voice...?" he looked around.

Darla was sitting in front of a mirror and brushing her hair as she sang one of her songs. "I've seen 'em come... And I'm seen 'em go... But there's one thing that I know... You gotta give the people what they want...~"

'Wow.' Urchin thought to himself.

"They like it big..." Darla continued, unaware she now had an audience. "They like it loud... Maybe a little bit jazzy sometimes... Mr. Pussycat, listen to me... You don't have to be good..." she then spun slightly like she did on the piano back in Hollywood. "But you had better be~..."

Urchin was enjoying the little show.

"Big and loooud!" Darla twirled slightly. "Big and loud~... Gonna make your mama proud! Make it big.... Aaaaaand looooud~!"

After she was done singing, Urchin applauded.

Darla blinked and realized Urchin was there, she then gave him a smirk as she came next to him, face-to-face. "Leaves ya kinda speechless?" she smirked, slightly. "Don't it?"

"You can say that again." Urchin said, jaw-dropped.

Darla smirked and put her hand underneath his jaw and put it back into place with a giggle.

"That was amazing!" Urchin cheered.

"Really now?" Darla smiled.

"Not bad, Goldilocks..." Urchin folded his arms with a smirk. "Where'd you learn to sing like that?"

"Oh... I used to sing all the time..." Darla replied with a softer smile. "I even made a life out of it."

"Cool." Urchin smiled.

Darla smiled.

"You're all right, Goldilocks..." Urchin folded his arms with a smirk. 

"Stop calling me that!" Darla whined.

"Why? It fits you perfectly." Urchin smiled.

"Hmm..." Darla folded her arms. 

"Fine..." Urchin rolled his eyes. "Darla..."

"Thank you..." Darla smirked then. "Brown Eyes."

"Oh, come on!" Urchin whined.

"Serves ya right..." Darla swam past him with a giggle.

"Hey, get back here." Urchin said.

"Nooo, I don't think I will..." Darla just kept swimming.

"Get over here!" Urchin chased her.

Darla laughed and tried to outswim him quickly. Urchin began to chase after her, finding this rather fun. Darla laughed.

"I'm gonna get you!" Urchin continued to swim quickly after her.

They passed Sebastian as he was anxiously pacing back and forth while Ariel was hopelessly in love.

"Are you okay, Sis?" Urchin asked Ariel.

Ariel unintentionally ignored him as she picked petals off the sea flower. "He loves me... Hmm... He loves me not... He loves me!" she then cheered at the last petal. "Oh, I knew it!"

"Ariel, stop talkin' crazy." Sebastian told her.

"I gotta see him again!" Ariel rambled. "Tonight! Scuttle knows where he lives."

"She still obsessed?" Atticus asked.

"Yup." Urchin nodded.

"Wow, she must be really, really, really in love with this guy." Atticus smiled.

"Ariel, please, will you get your head out of the clouds and back in the water where it belongs?!" Sebastian scolded.

"I'll swim up to his castle," Ariel planned something out about seeing Eric again. "Then Flounder will splash around to get his attention, and then with--"

"Ariel, listen to me," Sebastian came in her face. "The human world is a mess. Life under the sea is better than anything they got up there no matter what your cousins or aunt think!"

"We're right here, you know?" Darla asked.

"I'll handle this." Sebastian folded his claws.

"I never really thought about it, but I think it'd be cool to be human..." Urchin shrugged.

"Oh, Urchin, not you too!" Sebastian said to the former orphaned merboy.

"What? I'm just saying it would be pretty cool being a human." Urchin smiled.

"You two need to learn!" Sebastian said to Urchin and Ariel to convince them to stay under the sea.

Ariel and Urchin then decided that somehow and someway, they were going to become human like some of their family. During Sebastian's attempt to convince them, Flounder came over to them and whispered to Ariel and Urchin about a surprise he had for her. The other fish and creatures of the sea came to help Sebastian.

Ariel and Urchin heard Flounder and they swam away with him. Atticus and Darla were curious, so they followed as Sebastian was distracted in his own little world. It took a while, but after finishing his song, Sebastian noticed the kids gone.

"Ariel?" Sebastian looked around once he was alone. "Urchin? Anybody?"

The other fish then went back to their own business.

"Somebody's gotta nail those kids' fins to the floor..." Sebastian then mumbled.

And then a familiar sea horse was swimming around, looking for the crab. "Sebastian!"

Sebastian turned when his name was called. 

"Sebastian, I've been looking all over for you," the seahorse informed. "I've got an urgent message from the sea king."

"The sea king?" Sebastian questioned.

"He wants to see you right away!" the seahorse squeaked. "Something about Ariel!"

Sebastian grew terrified. "He knows!"

Sebastian was close Triton did indeed know, but it was only that Ariel was in love with someone. Patrick and Emily gave support and congratulations.

"Let's see now..." Triton chuckled, he was glad that Ariel was in love. "Oh, who could the lucky merman be?"

"Well, whoever he is, he must be quite something if he's caused for Ariel to be in love with him." Patrick smiled.

"It's good that you're handling this maturely," Emily added to her brother-in-law. "Also, letting her be with who she wants and not someone you arrange for."

"Why of course," Triton smiled back. "That's how Athena and I met after all."

"That's true." Emily smiled.

"Hmm?" Triton noticed someone else and recognized it instantly. "Ah... Come in, Sebastian."

"Yes, please, come in." Patrick said.

Sebastian muttered to himself and came over to the king of the sea, very nervously. "Yes?" he squeaked at first, then cleared his throat. "Your Majesty?"

'Weird, why is he nervous?' Emily thought to herself.

"Now, Sebastian, I'm concerned about Ariel," Triton said to his crab helper. "Have you noticed she's been acting peculiar lately?"

"Peculiar?" Sebastian smiled nervously.

"Oh, you know, like roaming about, daydreaming, singing to herself?" Patrick listed.

"You haven't noticed?" Emily glanced at the crab with an innocent smile that Jessica usually had.

"Oh, well, I--" Sebastian stuttered.

"Sebastian?" Triton knew something was up with the crab now. "I know you have been keeping something from me... About Ariel."

"Ariel?" Sebastian grinned nervously.

"In love..." Triton added in.

"I tried to stop her, sir!" Sebastian broke down. "She wouldn't listen and she's influenced Urchin too! I told them to stay away from humans! They are bad, they are trouble, they--"

'Oh, no.' Emily thought to herself.

"Humans?" Triton stopped the crab right there. "WHAT ABOUT HUMANS!?"

"Humans?" Sebastian smiled nervously. "W-W-Who said anything about humans?"

"Now, Triton, let's talk about this..." Emily tried to soothe her brother-in-law, but her attempt to soothe him had failed.

Triton grabbed Sebastian and they were off to find Ariel.

"Ugh... When is he going to learn?" Emily groaned. "I gave up my own mermaid life to live like a human and he still doesn't like them!"

"We better go after him." Patrick said.

Emily sighed and nodded in agreement. "I feel like this is gonna get ugly."


	7. Chapter 7

Jessica was still with Ariel's sisters as they dolled her up. "Are you done yet?" she asked.

"Almost!" Attina smiled, then looked to her sisters. "Okay, what do we put in her hair? A crown?"

"A shell?" Alana suggested.

"A scrunchy?" Adella suggested.

"A cute hat?" Adriana suggested.

"This is gonna be a long day." Jessica groaned.

Arista came behind Jessica and put in a starfish barrette. "Here, this should do."

Jessica looked in the mirror then and smiled. "Wow, that is a good one!"

Arista smirked to her sisters in victory. This caused for the rest of the girls to groan out of defeat. Arista and Jessica then hugged each other with a laugh together.

Meanwhile, Flounder was still leading the others to the surprise he was talking about.

"Oh, come on, Flounder, could you just tell us what it is?" Atticus asked.

"You'll see," Flounder chuckled. "It's a surprise."

"Ugh, this better be worth it..." Darla got tired of waiting as she followed along. 

"Oh, trust me, it will be." Flounder smiled.

Flounder made them close their eyes and led them into the grotto, once he got into a good spot, he smiled. "Okay!" he called for them to show they could look now. 

And when they saw what Flounder's surprise was, it made Ariel smile. It had been the statue of Eric that was washed away now under the sea with them.

"That's your surprise?" Urchin asked.

"It's mostly for Ariel." Flounder explained.

"Oh, Flounder!" Ariel hugged her best friend. "Flounder, you're the best! It looks just like him!" 

"Yeah, it even has his eyes." Darla said.

"Why, Eric?" Ariel talked with the statue like the boy of her dreams was right there with her. "Run away with you? It's all so sudden!" 

'Well, at least she's happy.' Urchin thought to himself.

Darla was surprised that Urchin wasn't immaturely disgusted for a change, but she said nothing. Ariel smiled, but she gasped. The others turned and saw Triton was standing there and looked aggressively unhappy.

"Daddy!" Ariel gasped.

"Oh, crud." Atticus groaned.

Flounder took Atticus, Darla, and Urchin and hid with them behind a treasure chest.

"Is it true you rescued a human from drowning?" Triton demanded. 

"Daddy, I had to." Ariel frowned.

"Contact between the human world and the merworld is strictly forbidden, Ariel!" Triton scolded. "You know that! Everyone knows that!"

"He would've died!" Ariel tried to defend.

"One less human to worry about!" Triton retorted.

"You don't even know him." Ariel said, glaring at her father.

"Please, stop and listen!" Urchin added, also glaring to Triton. 

"Yeah!" Darla added, doing the same.

"You stay out of this!" Triton glared to the meddling others.

"Uncle Triton, stop!" Atticus scolded his uncle. "You of all people should know better! My own mother chose to become a human and look at where it got her, her own brother-in-law is bullying his own daughter being in love with a human!" 

"It's true, Daddy, I love him!" Ariel told her father, referring to Eric.

Sebastian looked rather horrified by this.

"No..." Triton was in disbelief and shock.

"Why can't you be happy like you were half an hour ago!?" Darla tugged at her curls in frustration with her adoptive uncle.

"Ariel, you've lost your senses completely," Triton strongly disagreed. "He's a human and you're a mermaid!"

"I don't care." Ariel pouted. 

"And besides, does it matter if he's human or not?" Atticus asked.

"It'll never happen, your mother got lucky, Atticus!" Triton glared to him as his trident glowed. "So help me, Ariel, I am going to get through to you, and if this is the only way, so be it..."

"No!" Darla and Urchin gasped.

Triton didn't listen to them, he zapped Ariel's treasures with his trident as punishment for Ariel's 'misbehavior'. 

Stop!" Atticus yelled as he was now trying to take the trident away from his uncle.

"Get off, Atticus!" Triton yelled back as he continued.

Darla and Urchin held Ariel in comfort as her heart was breaking at her father's actions. 

"No, I won't let you keep doing this!" Atticus yelled back as he began to try to pry the trident away from his uncle. "And if I have to use my full strength, I will!"

"Stop this at once!" Triton demanded.

During the fight, they came closer to the statue.

"Guys, wait!" Urchin cried out, noticing that they were close to damaging the newest addition to Ariel's collection. 

"Uncle Triton, I won't let you destroy anything else!" Atticus glared.

Atticus and Triton argued for the trident, but it soon got loose from their grip and it flew against the statue and it broke.

"NOOOOOOO!" Ariel was extremely horrified, she was so upset right now. She quickly swam off and started to cry all over again and this morning started out so lovely. 

This caused for Atticus to gasp and where he began to think that it was him to blame.

Darla came up to her adoptive brother and held out her hand. Atticus dismissed her and he swam off on his own, feeling sad as well. Urchin and Darla frowned for their older siblings, then glanced to Triton. Triton's anger turned into sudden guilt. 

"We should leave Ariel alone for a while." Emily suggested.

"Is everything going to be okay?" Darla grew worried. 

"I sure hope so, dear." Emily sighed.

Patrick hugged and comforted his wife. Emily sniffled and hugged back, deeply pouting. This was not working out as well as she hoped when they planned the visit.

After they left, Sebastian went over to Ariel.

"Ariel, I--" Sebastian frowned.

"Just go away." Ariel was not interested in seeing him since he spilled the beans, though unintentionally to Triton.

Sebastian frowned, he wanted to help, but he respected her wishes and backed off. Flounder left with him along with Darla. 

Urchin came to his foster sister's side though, he may had been a jokester and usually gave others a hard time, but Ariel was his family now and he thought he would try to help. A couple of eels were swimming by them however.

"Poor child..." one eel cooed.

"Poor, sweet child..." the other eel said.

"Who's there?" Urchin asked, alarmed.

The eels smiled rather sinisterly to each other, then looked back as they came to the young merfolk.

"Don't be scared..." one eel said.

"We represent someone who can help you." the other eel added.

"Someone who could make all your dreams come true." the first eel said.

"Just imagine, you and your prince, together forever." the eels said together.

"And don't you like a human as well yourself?" the other eel asked Urchin. "Doesn't she sing so beautifully for a temporary mermaid?"

"One, we don't understand and two, how do know Darla?" Urchin asked.

"Oh, we know all..." one eel grinned. "Ursula has great powers."

Ariel and Urchin looked frightened. "The sea witch?"

"But that's impossible...,No, get out of here and leave us alone!" Urchin told the eels.

"Suit yourself..." one of the eels slithered away.

"It was only a suggestion..." the other eel added, then flicked a piece of the statue towards Ariel.

Ariel frowned, she then saw what happened and looked at the piece, it was some of Eric's face.

Urchin saw the look in Ariel's face and thought that it would be great to be human as well.

"Wait!" Ariel and Urchin called to them in unison.

"Yeeeeessss...?" the two eels looked back, rather darkly.

Meanwhile...

"Poor Ariel..." Flounder sniffled, feeling very bad for his best friend.

"I didn't mean to tell, it was an accident." Sebastian said.

Ariel and Urchin passed by. 

"Ariel, Urchin," Sebastian looked to them. "Where are you two going? What are you two doing here with this riffraff?"

"We're going to see Ursula." Ariel and Urchin replied blankly.

"No!" Sebastian gasped, trying to stop them. "She's a demon! She's a monster!"

"Why don't you tell our father?" Ariel scoffed. "You're good at that."

"B-But, I..." Sebastian felt bad.

Ariel and Urchin continued to follow the two eels.

"What's going on?" Darla swam over.

"They are going to see the sea witch!" Sebastian cried out.

"What?!" Atticus cried out.

"We gotta stop them!" Darla cried.

"Come on then!" Sebastian swam with them over to Ursula's hideout.

Flounder was nervous, but he followed after.

"Why are they even following those eels?" Atticus asked.

"I don't like this..." Darla bit her lip.

Flounder was incredibly nervous due to Ursula's really horrific reputation in the sea.

Ariel and Urchin kept following until they were outside a cavern.

"Come in..." a female voice called to them. "Come in, my children... We mustn't lurk in doorways, it's rude..."

"Um, sorry?" Urchin said, confused.

"One might question your upbringing..." the evil female voice continued to reveal an octopid woman that was the famed Ursula, the sea witch, truly more evil than the former Marina Del Rey who was paired off with Evil Manta before her banishment. "Now then... You're both here because you have a thing for those hum--Erm... Prince and former child star fellows... Not that I blame you, they are quite the catch, aren't they? Well, angel fish, the solution to your problem is simple. The only way to get what you both want is to become humans yourselves."

"You can do that?" Ariel and Urchin asked.

This caused for the evil sea witch to smirk evilly. "My dear sweet children," Ursula came between them. "That's what I do, it's what I live for. To help unfortunate merfolk, like yourselves. Poor souls with no one else to turn to."

'I have a feeling a villain song is coming on.' Urchin thought to himself.

Ursula led Ariel and Urchin deep into her cavern so she could help them out as she saw them as poor, unfortunate souls. Flounder and Sebastian were coming with Atticus and Darla to fetch Ariel and Urchin.

"I don't know Ursula," Darla said to her adoptive brother. "Is she... Dangerous?"

"Well, if she's known as a sea witch and she's this far off from anyone visiting her, then yeah, she must be dangerous." Atticus said.

"Oh, I feel like this is going to end badly..." Darla bit her lip in worry.

"Come on, we're in a hurry now!" Sebastian called as he found Ursula's cavern as Ursula was talking with Ariel and Urchin.

"Now, here's the deal," Ursula had a golden scroll hidden away for now as she showed images for Ariel and Urchin to watch. "I will make you a potion that will turn you both into humans for three days. Got that? Three days. Now listen, this is important. Before the sun sets on the third day, you've got to get dear ol' princey and Goldilocks to fall in love with you. That is, they've got to kiss you. Not just any kiss, the kiss of true love. If they kiss you before the sun sets on the third day, you'll remain human, permanently, but, if they don't... You turn back into a mermaid and merboy, and you'll both belong to me."

"No, Ariel and Urchin--" Sebastian tried talking them out of it before getting wrapped up by the eels. His words of protests were then muffled out against his will.

"Have we got a deal?" Ursula grinned viciously.

"If we become human..." Ariel thought about it and how Emily rarely came to visit due to her life on dry land and plus, she had to make a deal out of this and probably wouldn't have the same benefit as her aunt. "Then, we'll never see our father and sisters again."

"Yeah..." Urchin frowned.

"That's right..." Ursula cooed to them. "But... You'll have your soulmates... Life's full of tough choices, innit?"

Ariel and Urchin sighed, feeling lost for a moment.

"Oh, there is one more thing," Ursula thought quickly. "We haven't discussed the subject of payment. You can't have something for nothing."

"But, we don't have any--" Urchin spoke up.

"I'm not asking for much, just a token, really, a trifle," Ursula stopped him. "Ariel, you won't even miss it... What I want from YOU is... Your voice."

"M-My voice?" Ariel asked, shocked.

"You've got it, sweet cakes," Ursula glanced at her. "No more talking, singing, ZIP!"

"But, without my voice..." Ariel stammered. "H-How can I--"

"You'll have your looks," Ursula came to her side. "Your pretty face! And don't underestimate the power of body language, HA!"

"Okay, but what about my price?" Urchin asked.

"Like you have something I want," Ursula chuckled darkly to him before unleashing the contract for them to sign so they could make the deal official and they would become temporary humans to make their dreams and wishes for love come true. "You both have three days and you both have to earn the kiss of true love at the same time... Otherwise, you'll both belong to me."

"We get it." Urchin said.

"Flotsam, Jetsam, now I got 'em, boys." Ursula whispered to her eels.

Ariel and Urchin both signed the contract and the deal was set, much to Flounder and Sebastian's misfortune. There was now a huge explosion like in a witch's cauldron.

"Paluga, sarruga, come winds of the Caspian Sea," Ursula recited a spell. "Now rings us glossitis and max laryngitis, La voce to me! Now... Sing!"

Ariel then took a breath and sang the best she could for Ursula's spell to work.

"Keep singing!" Ursula told her.

Ariel continued to sing. Magical and mystical hands appeared from Ursula's spell and seemed to reach into her throat and take her voice away from her. Ariel's singing was heard, but it was no longer coming out of her mouth. Ursula now had Ariel's voice, she laughed as she finally got what she had wanted.

Flounder and Sebastian then saw Ariel and Urchin were now changed into humans and they rushed the two former sea creatures up to shore, after all, humans could not breathe underwater. Atticus and Darla joined in to help the two get up to the surface. Ursula laughed wickedly and wildly as things had gone her way.

Eric and Max were walking by the castle on the beach while Cherry was staring at the full moon.

"Hey, Cherry, how you doing?" Bud asked.

"Just thinking..." Cherry said as the wind gently blew her hair.

"I know, you wish you had a friend with you on this vacation..." Bud gently hugged her. "It'll be okay though... We're with a real prince."

"Yeah, but still..." Cherry looked away distantly.

"How's about you read this?" Michelle asked, handing her daughter a book.

"What's this?" Cherry took the book.

"It's called 'The Little Mermaid'." Michelle said.

"Uh-huh?" Cherry asked as she flipped through it.

"It's about this mermaid princess who falls in love with a man on land and she would do anything to be with him, even sell her voice and tail fin to an evil sea witch," Michelle urged. "I loved it as a child... I thought you would like it."

"Well, I guess I do like a good book..." Cherry shrugged. "Thanks, Mom."

"You're welcome, sweetheart." Michelle smiled.

Cherry put the book on her nightstand, she would read it if she couldn't sleep. Eric was outside with Max and playing his flute by the moonlight. Cherry continued to read the book and where to her surprise, it was exactly of what had been happening.


	8. Chapter 8

The next morning, Atticus and Darla were on shore with Ariel and Urchin. Since the two were on dry land for a longer period of time, their tail fins disappeared and their legs returned and they were back in their human forms. 

"Uh, what just happened?" Darla asked Atticus, knowing he would know.

"Well, to put it into shorter terms, we've turned back into our human forms and thanks to the deal that Ariel and Urchin made with the sea witch, they now have human forms as well." Atticus said.

"Oh, okay..." Darla understood now.

Sebastian and Flounder exhaustedily came as well to make sure Ariel, Urchin, Atticus, and Darla would be okay. Ariel woke up first, she then looked at her new legs and smiled in joy. 

"Ugh, my head hurts..." Urchin rubbed his head.

"Hey, Urchin, why don't you check on your new legs?" Atticus suggested.

"What...?" Urchin asked, then noticed his tail fin was now gone and he had legs himself. "WAH!"

"Not bad..." Darla giggled, sitting on her knees. "You'll get used to 'em..."

"Well, look at what the catfish dragged in," Scuttle's voice was heard. "Look at ya! Look at ya! There's something different. Don't tell me, I got it. It's your hairdo, right? You've been using the dinglehopper, right?"

"No." Urchin glanced at the seagull.

Ariel shook her head as well.

"Try again." Darla said with a giggle.

"No? Huh, well, let me see..." Scuttle looked again. "Um... New seashells, and Urchin, have you been working out?"

"No." Urchin said while Ariel shook her head.

"I gotta admit I can't put my foot on it right now, but if I just stand here long enough I know that I'll--" Scuttle kept guessing.

"THEY'VE GOT LEGS, YOU IDIOT!" Sebastian had enough of the guessing game.

"It's true." Urhcin said.

"I knew that." Scuttle muttered.

"Ariel and Urchin have been turned into humans," Flounder explained. "They gotta make the prince and whoever Urchin likes fall in love with them, and th-they gotta kiss 'em."

Ariel and Urchin tried to stand up.

"And they only got three days," Sebastian added. "Just look at them. On legs! On human legs! My nerves are shot! This is a catastrophe! What would their father say? I'll tell you what their father'd say, he'd say he's gonna kill himself a crab, that's what their father'd say!" he then turned the other way to get back into the ocean. "I'm gonna march meself straight home right now and tell him just like I shoulda done de minute--"

"No, Sebastian, please don't do that!" Urchin begged.

Ariel even grabbed him and shook her head.

"Don't you protest to me, young lady and man!" Sebastian scolded. "Maybe there's still time. If we could get that witch to give you back your voice, you could go home with all the normal fish, and just be..." He then saw them both look down at him, very sad. "Just be... Miserable for the rest of your lives..."

Sebastian then gave in and offered to help Ariel and Urchin get with the ones they had desired.

"Now, guys, I'm tellin' ya, if you wanna be human, the first thing you gotta do is dress like one," Scuttle said, then gestured to Atticud and Darla's clothes. "Now... Lemme see..." he then looked for something for them to wear.

"If only we had some extra clothes with us." Darla said.

"I'll find something!" Scuttle went off.

"Yeah, this is kinda awkward..." Atticus turned away from Ariel since she wasn't wearing anything.

Urchin was hiding behind some rocks.

"So, who's your special someone?" Darla asked with a teasing smile.

"N-No one in particular." Urchin blushed.

"Oh?" Darla asked.

"Buzz off, Goldilocks..." Urchin chuckled nervously.

Darla glanced at him and backed off. Scuttle then found torn cloth from the ship's sail and decided to have Ariel and Urchin wear that.

"Well, I guess a torn cloth is better than nothing." Atticus said.

"Yeah, but that's so not their color!" Darla wrinkled her nose slightly.

"They'll probably get better clothes later on." Atticus whispered to her.

"I guess..." Darla folded her arms.

Cherry came out with Eric as Max was sniffing and barking.

"Huh?" Eric asked. "What is it, Max?"

Max rushed off excitedly.

"I guess we better follow him..." Cherry shrugged.

Scuttle whistled once Urchin and Ariel made the sail into temporary clothes. "Ya kids look great," he smiled. "Ya look sensational!" 

"Oh, brother..." Darla rolled her eyes.

'If Rarity was here, she would say that this is a fashion disaster.' Atticus thought to himself.

He could nearly hear the white unicorn's voice in his head. 'No, this is the absolute worst, possible, THING!'

"Was that Rarity?" Atticus asked, looking for the white unicorn mare fashionista.

Rarity was not there.

Atticus then shrugged. "Must be just thinking about her a lot."

Max was heard barking as Eric and Cherry were going after him.

"Uh-Oh, we better get to safe a distance." Urchin said.

Ariel ended up on a rock as Max came closer and closer.

"Quiet, Max, quiet! What's gotten into you, fella?" Eric came over there, scolding his dog, then saw the small group.

"Atticus and Darla?" Cherry asked, surprised and confused. "I thought you had a family reunion or something."

"Oh, um, well, we were reuniting with our family and were having a wonderful time, but the four of us got separated from them." Darla lied.

"Really?" Cherry asked, unsure if that was true or not.

"Uh, yeah, what she said..." Atticus quickly agreed.

"Hmm..." Cherry folded her arms, then shrugged. "Well... Okay..."

"Whew." Darla sighed out of relief.

But when Cherry got a good look at Ariel and Urchin, she had another thought of why they were there.

"That's my cousin Ariel and her brother, Urchin..." Atticus said quickly.

Cherry opened her book and found a page that had the mermaid princess in it. "She looks like the mermaid princess in my book." She then quickly flipped it to where Ariel was making a deal with Ursula and had a feeling that Urchin had made the same deal.

"So... Now you know..." Atticus came to her side. "My cousin Ariel is a mermaid."

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Cherry looked back.

"If I did, you would have thought I was crazy." Atticus said.

"Atticus, we were raised in an orphanage together, lived with Cinderella for a year and talking mice with fairy godmothers before we decided to track down our real parents, I found mine and you stayed with me, and we could both talk to animals, and we recently found out you have Wiccan blood from your Aunt Delilah, and we've been in a world with magical talking and singing ponies, I think I could've handled that one." Cherry reminded him.

"Oh, right." Atticus said before hitting himself.

"Wow, you guys have been through so much together." Darla was surprised, plus she had known them when Atticus knew who his family was and they moved in together before her adoption.

"Anyways, right now, we might need to help Ariel and Urchin with how to walk, this is their first time with legs." Atticus whispered.

"But wait, why did Urchin make the deal with the sea witch?" Cherry asked.

"We don't know..." Darla shrugged. "Guess he met a cute human girl..."

"I'll take a wild guess and say that he has fallen in love with Darla." Atticus whispered to his best friend.

Cherry looked back and shrugged, she did not know Urchin, so she did not know what to say or how to respond to that. Eric tried to talk with Ariel, she wanted to talk with him, but she remembered that she couldn't. 

"Are you both hurt?" Eric asked Ariel and Urchin.

"No." Urchin said.

"Um... Your friend looks familiar..." Eric said as he studied Ariel slightly.

"She's my sister actually." Urchin said.

"Really?" Eric looked to Ariel, then to Urchin, then to Ariel again. "You don't look that much related."

"We're adopted siblings." Urchin told him.

Ariel wanted to say her name, but nothing could get through to Eric and she ended up in his arms.

"Come on, you'll be okay." Eric comforted. 

Urchin rolled his eyes slightly with a sigh.

"Come on, Cherry, we have to help these two." Eric said.

"Coming." Cherry said back.

'They could use some help with walking.' Darla thought to herself.

Atticus and Darla decided to go with Cherry, Eric, Max, Ariel, and Urchin.

"Carlotta?" Eric called for a maid. "Carlotta!"

A woman came when her name was called. "Yes, Eric?"

"Could you help these two?" Eric asked, referring to Ariel and Urchin. "I think they were washed up from a shipwreck."

"Of course, come with me, dears." Calotta said, also referring to Ariel and Urchin.

Atticus and Darla helped Ariel and Urchin keep their balance as Carlotta led them into a room they could wash up in.

"Atticus, do you think we should change our clothes?" Darla asked.

"Maybe." Atticus shrugged.

"Well, your clothes are rather, um, wet." Carlotta said.

"Are they?" Atticus looked and noticed they were. "Oh... They are... Heh... Guess I forgot about that when... We... Umm... Crashed."

"It was my fault really." Darla smiled innocently. "I've never been a strong swimmer."

"Well, then after the bath, all four of you will have to get into drier clothes and shoes." Carlotta said.

"Thank you." Darla, Urchin, and Atticus said while Ariel had a look of thanks.

"You're quite welcome, dears." Carlotta smiled.

Ariel and Urchin were curious of what a bath was, but they waited for the water to be filled up and they would be out of their 'new clothes'.

"Ooh, bubbles." Darla smiled.

Carlotta hummed as she drew a bath for them.

"See you guys later..." Cherry said as she left with her book.

"See ya later, Cherry." Atticus said.

Cherry waved and went into the room she stayed in with her parents.

"So, what's up, Cherry?" Bud asked his daughter.

Cherry sat on the bed. "Atticus is here with his cousins, apparently they all got separated."

"Oh, the poor dears." Michelle frowned.

"Yeah... Poor them..." Cherry knew the real reason, so she didn't sound sympathetic like her parents.

"You don't sound sympathetic for them." Bud said.

"I'm really worried, really, I am." Cherry said dryly.

"I'll never understand how you can mean something without showing it." Bud said.

Cherry was now continuing to read the book.

"Let her go, she's had a long day..." Michelle sighed.

Cherry hummed as she read her book.

"Washed up from a shipwreck," Carlotta sighed as she had Ariel, Atticus, Urchin, and Darla get bathed. "Oh, the poor things. We'll have you feeling better in no time... I'll... I'll just wash these for you..." she then smiled nervously at their 'clothes' made from the sail and piled on Atticus and Darla's clothes with them.

Sebastian was unfortunately in the piles of clothes. He tried to get everyone's attention, but Carlotta and the other cleaning ladies could not hear him and they were cleaning the clothes. Ariel had a bubble in her hand and blew it, childishly amused by it.

"These really are amusing." Urchin smiled.

Atticus scrubbed his back and helped Ariel and Urchin with the same. "Darla, aren't you going to scrub your back?"

"You mean I have to do it myself?" Darla asked.

"Well... You're growing up..." Atticus shrugged. 

"Um... Max has always done it for me in the past..." Darla shrugged.

"It's not that hard." Atticus said.

Darla frowned a little.

"Think about how Max used to do it..." Atticus suggested. 

Darla hummed, she was trying to think back to those days as she was given the brush. She then began to see of how Max use to do it. She started to visualize back to those days. She could see her old mansion, the endless pink color scheme and heart designs everywhere. It was truly a paradise home for every little girl's fantasy. Darla then brushed her back the best she could on her own.

"That's the way." Atticus smiled.

"Feels so weird to do it by myself..." Darla frowned.

"You should learn to do it by yourself, you're growing up after all." Atticus reminded her.

"I don't wanna grow up..." Darla pouted.

"Well, you have to, everyone grows up." Atticus said.

"Not me... I'm special..." Darla sprawled.

Urchin rolled his eyes. "Cork it, Goldilocks."

"You cork it!" Darla argued, splashing him with the bath water.

'Oh, no, I feel a water fight coming on.' Atticus thought to himself.

Darla and Urchin glared to each other, splashing each other. And where later on, it started to become fun.

Atticus sighed. "You two..."

Their fun was cut short as soon as it was time to get out of the bath. Carlotta was lying out new clothes for them to wear while their 'old clothes' were going to be washed up.

"Eric says you should dress nicely since we have guests..." Michelle told her daughter.

Cherry shrugged, she then took out the dress she brought with her which was black with white dots around it and had sparkly black and white slip on shoes to go with it.

"So which part of the book are you at?" Michelle asked.

"Just after the mermaid princess sells her voice and is going to meet her human prince for dinner." Cherry explained.

"Oh, just wait until you get to the part where the crab is fighting for his life against the chef." Michelle giggled.

"Oh, come on, Mom..." Cherry rolled her eyes slightly.

Michelle and Bud then went to get their best clothes on and Michelle sprayed herself with perfume. Cherry then bookmarked the book once they were settled and decided to join her parents to meet Eric at the table.

"I hope the dinner isn't anything seafood." Cherry said.

"Have you ever even tried seafood?" Michelle asked her daughter.

"I won't like it." Cherry insisted.

"You know, I like seafood, especially crab legs and catfish..." Bud said to her. "Maybe if you tried it, you'd like it..."

Cherry hummed as she came into the dining hall with her parents.

"Oh, Eric, be reasonable," Grimsby told Eric after what he had heard nearly all day today. "Nice young ladies just don't swim around rescuing people in the middle of the ocean and then, flutter off into oblivion, like some--"

"I'm tellin' you, Grim, she was real!" Eric insisted. "I'm gonna find that girl and I'm gonna marry her!"

"Come on, deary, don't be shy." Carlotta's voice said, speaking to Ariel.

Ariel came out first, she wore a pink and white dress that was very beautiful.

Bud, Michelle, and Cherry sat down and looked up at the former mermaid.

"Oh, Eric, isn't she a vision?" Grimsby was impressed.

Eric was indeed captivated by the looks. "You look wonderful."

Ariel smiled bashfully. Urchin, Atticus, and Darla then came out. Atticus wore a royal blue suit. Urchin had a green suit on. Darla wore a sparkling and glittering purple gown with matching shoes. She felt weird though because her hair did not have a bow in it and she had worn a bow in her hair ever since before she could even remember. 

'It feels so weird to not have a bow on.' Darla thought to herself.

"Come, come, come," Grimsby gestured for the quartet to come to the dining hall. "You all must be famished."

Atticus was about to help Darla into a seat to seem like a gentleman, but Urchin was already doing it and pulled out the chair for Darla.

"Um... Thanks, Urchin?" Darla was surprised by the act of random kindness, but she took her seat anyway. 

'Yep, he's so in love with Darla.' Atticus thought to himself.

"It's not every day we have such a lovely dinner guest, eh, Eric?" Grimsby chuckled.

Ariel spotted a fork on the table and started to comb her hair with it, remembering what Scuttle taught her. This of course caused for Eric, Grimsby, Bud, and Michelle to look at her in confusion. Cherry put her hand over her mouth.

"Uh, Ariel?" Darla nudged her adoptive cousin.

Ariel then decided to stop and put the fork back down on the table sheepishly. She then saw Grimbsy light a pipe, remembering of what she was taught about them.

Grimsby caught her gaze and let her hold onto it. "Uh, do you like it?" he smiled friendly to her. "It is rather fine."

Ariel then took the pipe and blew into it, blowing the contents into the old man's face. The soot covered face caused for everyone in the room to laugh, well, everyone except for Grimsby.

"Oh, my!" Carlotta gasped.

"Um, sorry, Grim..." Eric said, trying to get rid of his laughs.

"Why, Eric," Carlotta praised. "That's the first time I've seen you smile in weeks!"

"Okay, that's enough." Michelle scolded the laughing.

Cherry, Darla, and Urchin stopped, but Bud kept laughing. Michelle gave her husband a look which made him stop laughing. This caused for him to clear his throat and to stop laughing.

"Oh, very amusing, Carlotta, my dear..." Grimsby muttered. "What's for dinner?"

"Ooh, you're gonna love it," Carlotta grinned proudly. "Chef's been fixing his specialty: stuffed crab." 

Bud smiled at that, crab was one of his most favorite of all seafood.

This caused for Cherry to go wide-eyed as she remembered what her mother told her.

"Um... Is there anything else to eat?" Darla asked, twiddling her fingers. 

"Um, excuse me, but may I be excused for a sec, I just have to go to the bathroom." Cherry lied.

The others glanced to her. Cherry then dashed away from the dining room table.

"That's weird, Cherry's never this hesitant to try new food..." Michelle shrugged. 

Cherry was now on her way to the kitchen, hoping that Sebastian wasn't there. The chef was humming and singing to himself as he was cooking a meal for everybody.

"Sebastian?" Cherry whispered loudly for the live crab that was smuggled onto Ariel and Urchin's adventures above the sea. 

"Who's there?" Sebastian's voice whispered.

Cherry flinched, but she got on her knees. "Sebastian...?" she quietly called. "Sebastian!" 

"Over here!" Sebastian quietly called out from underneath a lettuce leaf.

Cherry quickly rushed over there and also tried to be hidden from the chef so he wouldn't scold or anything. Unfortunately for Cherry and Sebastian, the chef had removed the lettuce leaf to see the crab. Cherry ducked down and hid. Sebastian gasped and tried to escape from the chef. 

Which of course, wasn't so easy for either of them. Sebastian had a very stomach turning experience as he saw dead fish for the humans to eat as meals which deeply repulsed him. Cherry hid cringes as the chef was pounding the lettuce and she knew Sebastian was underneath there and also just knew if the crab was found, he would be tortured. Cherry still stayed hidden. The chef now noticed Sebastian and tried to chase him down to cook him.

"Oy vey..." Cherry looked visibly queasy during this whole chef against food chase.

Sebastian got caught at some points, but luckily, he was never boiled, fried, or stuffed to become someone's next meal. And where it was very entertaining for Cherry as she began to watch the entire scene go on. 

Cherry laughed at some points, but she still rooted for Sebastian, at some point, she backed away as the chef and Sebastian were now trying to kill each other. It was like Tom and Jerry's violence up to eleven. She saw that Sebastian could use some help. Cherry grabbed ont othe counter as she watched what was happening.

"What is this?" the chef held Sebastian.

Sebastian then pinched his claws over the chef's nose, making him yelp in pain and let go. Cherry grabbed Sebastian as he fell and kept him close in her hands as a giant cabinet was about to fall in the kitchen. 

"Get back here!" The chef yelled.

Cherry kept running with the crab, but she accidentally tripped and dropped him. Sebastian hopped out of her hands, he quietly thanked her for her help and kept crawling off.

"Sebastian, wait!" Cherry quietly yelled, worried about him going off on his own.

There was then a loud crash heard in the kitchen.

The others heard it in the dining room and it worried them.

"I think I'd better go see what Louis up to." Carlotta volunteered herself. 

"I think I shall join you." Atticus volunteered, being worried as well.

Carlotta nodded to him and led the way. Cherry got up and dusted herself clean, worried about Sebastian, she couldn't see him anywhere. 

Louis was now searching everywhere in the kitchen for Sebastian, looking like he had gone completely insane. "Come out, you little pipsqueak and fight like a man!"

"Louis!" Carlotta scolded. "What are you doing?"

"Well, I-I was just..." the chef, Louis, grew nervous at her anger. "Erm... I'm sorry, Madame." 

"I have no words to describe this." Atticus said.

Carlotta glared to the chef. 

"Well, I guess we already know what made the mess." Atticus said.

"Come along, we'll let him get to it." Carlotta mumbled.

Atticus glanced at Louis and followed the woman back.

"You know, Eric, Grimsby spoke up. "Perhaps our young guests might enjoy seeing some of the sights of the kingdom. Something in the way of a tour?"

Eric seemed to be too distracted by Ariel. "I'm so sorry, Grim, what was that?"

Bud and Michelle shared a knowing look together. Cherry hoped Sebastian was going to be okay and she sat back down at the table. Darla yawned as she was getting tired of waiting for their evening meal. Atticus and Carlotta came in with the meal, unknown to everyone, one of the trays had Sebastian in it. 

"You can't spend all your time moping about," Grimsby advised to Eric. "You need to get out, do something, have a life, get your mind off..." he removed the top of his tray.

Sebastian was under there, Ariel saw him and urged him to come to her plate to hide. Cherry was relieved that Sebastian made it out okay.

"Easy, Grim, easy..." Eric told his old friend. 

Sebastian then hurried off to Ariel's plate to hide. Luckily, the only ones who saw him were not Eric, Grimsby, Carlotta, or Cherry's parents. 

"Well, whatya say?" Eric looked to Ariel, Atticus, Darla, and Urchin. "Would you like to join me on a tour of my kingdom tomorrow?"

Ariel obviously nodded as she kept Sebastian hidden from the others.

"Sure." Atticus smiled.

"Beats sitting around and doing nothing." Darla even added in.

Urchin thought that sounded boring, but since Darla was going to be in on it... "Yes, please."

"Wonderful," Grimsby smiled. "Now, let's eat before this crab wanders off my plate..." he then put his fork down and saw that the main dish on his plate was not there, much to his overwhelmed surprise. 

"Seems like Louis forgot you." Bud said.

Grimsby frowned.

Cherry shoved her plate over, not even wanting to try the crab due to her little escapade earlier with Sebastian. "Here..."

"Oh, well, thank you, my dear." Grimsby smiled.

Cherry smiled nervously, then held her stomach with a low groan. Maybe someday she would try seafood, some day, just not today. The others who wanted their dinner ate it as it was getting dark quickly. 

"Wow, it sure is getting dark." Atticus said.

"We'll get you folks some pajamas too." Carlotta offered. 

"Thank you, ma'am." Atticus smiled.

"Anytime." Carlotta smiled back, looking rather motherly.


	9. Chapter 9

When they finished their dinner, the four guests were given a different room while Cherry stayed in another room with her parents. There were plenty of guest rooms for everybody. 

"So we only have three days to get Eric to kiss Ariel and for Darla to kiss Urchin before the third sunset or else they belong to Ursula... Just great, sounds easy." Atticus groaned to himself.

"Oh, totally..." Cherry overheard that and leaned on the door-frame.

"Cherry!?" Atticus turned in surprise to see her. "Um... How long have you been standing there?"

"Oh, long enough..." Cherry folded her arms with a smirk. 

"Note to self: When speaking to yourself, make sure no one is around." Atticus whispered to himself.

"You can't hide from me..." Cherry teased. "So, Urchin likes Dimples, huh? Didn't see that coming."

"Same here." Atticus said.

"He's bad at hiding it..." Cherry shrugged. "I could help you if you want though... But, since you wanna do this alone..." she then walked off. 

"No! Please help me, I could use all the help I can get." Atticus begged.

Cherry darkly chuckled to that.

"Since when do you like to help?" Atticus folded his arms at her.

"Hey, you're like a brother to me..." Cherry shrugged innocently. "I guess I care about ya."

"Gee thanks, Cherry." Atticus smiled.

"Don't say I never did anything for you..." Cherry shrugged. 

"Okay, okay, anyways, we'll have to figure out how we're going to get them to....You know." Atticus said.

"Make sure they're alone and can fall in love," Cherry advised. "Find a way to get them together... I remember that Cogsworth, Lumiere, and Mrs. Potts tried to get Belle and Prince Adam alone together by getting them to ice skate." 

"Well, ice skating is out, but what about a nice boat ride on the lake?" Atticus asked.

"We should either do it by sunset or by moonlight," Cherry suggested. "Those are always romantic for those girly girl types..."

"It might get dark after Eric's tour of the kingdom, so moonlight will have to do." Atticus replied.

"Precisely." Cherry noted, pushing her glasses back. 

"Yeah and we'll also have to have some romantic music around." Atticus said.

"That's about all I got..." Cherry tried to think. "Oh, also, Eric should know Ariel's name." 

"Yes, but we can't give it away, he's going to have to guess it." Atticus said with a wink.

"We can't just tell him?" Cherry glanced at him. 

"We'll, whisper it to him while he's guessing." Atticus said.

Cherry rolled her eyes slightly. "Well... I'm going to bed... See you in the morning..." she then went to her own guest room.

Atticus waved to her and went to get some sleep himself. 

Darla was already asleep and was lightly snoring as she was tucked into bed. Ariel wasn't asleep quite yet, she was too busy looking outside.

"Hey, Ariel...' Atticus said with an obviously tired yawn as he stretched.

Ariel looked back at him, waved, but then continued to look outside. Eric and Max were having some nighttime fun with each other before they would run off to bed themselves. 

"Ohh, now I see why you're still awake." Atticus whispered.

Ariel smiled dreamily as she watched Eric.

"Come here, boy!" Eric chuckled to his dog as they played. 

'Hopefully he'll remember to get some sleep.' Atticus thought to himself.

Eric kept playing, but he looked up at the balcony and spotted the crimson-haired girl and waved to her. Ariel felt embarrassed that she was discovered and quickly hid away. Eric frowned, but shrugged with a small smile.

"This has got to be, without a doubt, the single most humiliating day of my life," Sebastian groaned. "I hope you and Urchin appreciate what I go through for you, young lady." 

Ariel simply patted him on the head before heading to bed.

"Now, we've got to make a plan for you to kiss that boy tomorrow." Sebastian then said.

"Don't worry, Sebastian, Cherry and I have a plan." Atticus told the crab.

"Cherry?" Sebastian asked, trying to think. "Is she that girl who saved my life from that crazy cook?" 

"Yep, that would be her." Atticus nodded.

"And what exactly is your plan?" Sebastian asked.

"Just trust me, okay?" Atticus said once he got into the bed he was going to sleep in. "This is going to go smoothly and we won't have to worry about Ariel and Urchin... At least... I hope not..."

Sebastian sighed as they fell asleep, he looked to the sleeping Ariel and Urchin. "You are hopeless, children, you know that? Completely hopeless..." he then started to fall asleep himself. 

"Good night, Sebastian." Atticus smiled.

Sebastian sighed before falling asleep himself. Soon, everybody was asleep.

On land that is, in Atlantica, things were not well. The guards were now looking everywhere for Ariel, Urchin, Atticus, and Darla. The seahorse swam up to the king of the sea.

"Any sign of them?" Triton questioned.

"No, Your Majesty, we've searched everywhere," the seahorse replied. "We've found no trace of your daughter, your foster son, your niece, your nephew, or Sebastian." 

"Then keep searching." Patrick said.

"Leave no shell unturned, no coral unexplored, let no one in this kingdom sleep until the children are safe at home." Triton added.

"Yes, sire..." the seahorse saluted and swam off again, following direct orders.

"Oh, what have I done?" Triton sobbed. "What have I done?" 

"We will find them." Emily assured her brother-in-law.

"I sure hope you're right..." Triton felt incredibly guilty for making the children 'run away from home'.

Patrick and Emily stayed with him.

Jessica was with Ariel's sisters, they all tried to comfort each other. 

"We'll have to hope that they're alright." Jessica said.

"Where could they had gone to?" Alana pouted. 

"Maybe a whole other ocean?" Adella shrugged.

"Nah, that's impossible." Aquata shook her head.

"Let's just hope they're safe and not in any danger." Arista said.

"Try not to worry too much, Jessica," Attina advised. "You'll make yourself sick." 

"Yeah." Adella added.

Jessica sighed. "I'm just always afraid of losing Atticus... We lost him as a baby already, we can't lose him again." 

"Oh, we're so sorry," Arista frowned. "We didn't know."

"It's okay..." Jessica stared out the open window.

"When was it?" Adella asked.

"He was almost two," Jessica explained the best she could. "I really wanted a little sister, but I loved Atticus and I always looked after him the best that I could... But one day, something happened."

"What happened?" Adriana asked.

"Jackson DeVil happened..." Jessica mumbled. 

"Let me guess, a flashback, right?" Adella asked.

Jessica gave Adella a glance for that. "Um..."

"Uh, why don't you tell us about it?" Aquata asked.

"Well... Okay..." Jessica shrugged. "Like I said, Atticus was almost two..."

*Flashback*

Jessica heard her younger brother crying again, her parents were in the backyard, so she decided to be the one to help him out. She just hoped it wasn't a dirty diaper, but she went to his room and picked up Atticus in her arms and sat in her mother's rocking chair in an attempt to comfort him and soothe his tears. It took short time as she seemed to do the trick, telling her that all he wanted was his big sister.

Jessica smiled. "I love you, Atticus..." she whispered to her nearly toddler brother as she gently rocked. "Always have and always will... Just, don't embarrass me in front of a cute boy, okay?" she then added the last bit as a joke.

This only caused for baby Atticus to giggle out of amusement.

Jessica chuckled once she got him to calm down. "How about a story?"

Atticus seemed to nod, even as a baby he loved stories. However, at the same time, there was someone at the door.

"Oh, boy..." Jessica was nervous, Atticus needed a story and there was someone at the door. "Where are Mom and Dad!?"

But she remembered to not upset her baby brother.

"I-I'm sure Mom and Dad will get it..." Jessica then went back to the bookshelves to find a book to read. "Let's see... Aladdin... Beauty and the Beast... Cinderella..."

Baby Atticus seemed to be interested into all of the fairy tale books.

"Let's go with Sleeping Beauty..." Jessica picked that one since it was her personal favorite.

Baby Atticus didn't seem to have any objections. Jessica sat down in the rocking chair, she held Atticus carefully and held the book so he could see the colorful pictures and she read the book aloud, doing her best to do character voices like their father often did when he would read them a story. And where her baby brother started to get more and more sleepy. 

Jessica smiled, she finished the story and gently put Atticus back into his crib to let him get some sleep and she went off to do more things. Little did they all know, this would be a disastrous memory that would plague the Fudo family possibly forever. And which would start that night as a storm was now starting outside.

Baby Atticus was sleeping, but the storm was giving him a struggling sleep. A flash of lightning seemed to summon a bad guy who was sneaking into the Fudo house. The sound of thunder seemed to set it off as Jessica was now downstairs and getting something to eat when she heard her baby brother crying, she also heard a familiar male voice.

"What was that!?" Jessica asked herself, she then hurried up to her baby brother's room. "Atticus!?"

When she burst into her baby brother's room, she saw a face she didn't think she would ever see ever again and he left with the screaming baby. "Atticus... Atticus? ATTTIIIICUUUUUSSS!!!"

*End of Flashback*

 

Jessica had a very emotional look on her face as she concluded of what happened to Atticus when he was taken away.

"How could that jerk do that?" Adella asked.

"I don't know..." Jessica frowned. "I didn't think we'd ever find him."

"When did you find him again?" Attina asked.

"Well, we went out for a picnic," Jessica narrated her point of view from a different story. "It was Fourth of July and even though we were without Atticus for the longest time, I thought it was fate that we ended up there..."

*Flashback*

Jessica sat on a blanket with her parents as she was still upset about Atticus, years and years later and she still wasn't over it, she had a gut feeling though that her brother was alive and somewhere out there.

"See that family?" an unfamiliar voice asked.

"You mean that family over there?" another unfamiliar voice asked.

Jesisca looked around, she turned her head and could saw two dogs in the bushes together, a fully grown one and a puppy who had a collar. 'What are those dogs doing?' she thought to herself.

Patrick and Emily were sorting out the picnic while their daughter seemed to be distracted.

"You okay, Jessie?" Emily asked.

"Um... Fine, I guess..." Jessica shrugged. "It's just... Those dogs..."

"It's family time right now, besides, you don't know those dogs, they could be dangerous." Patrick warned.

"I know, but--" Jessica said before looking again to see a girl and a boy with the dogs. She looked closer at the boy and could had sworn it looked so much like her long-lost younger brother.

A schnauzer puppy barked at the Siamese cats that were from another family in the picnic area and the boy whispered something to the puppy and they took the chicken and ran. The family was alarmed and surprised.

Jessica rubbed her eyes as she watched the dark brown-haired boy run off. "I could've sworn I saw Atticus..."

"Are you sure that it was him?" Emily asked.

"I was sure of it..." Jessica bit her lip.

*End of Flashback*

 

"And I was right, so we tracked down the Brown house and found out that Atticus was my brother and we ended up becoming a family again after that..." Jessica said. "I never gave up hope after he was taken from us. I'm very worried about Atticus, but I'm sure he's okay... Wherever he is right now..."

"I just hope they didn't run into that sea witch." Arista shuddered.

"Oh, come on, Ariel, Urchin, and Atticus are smarter than to run into her and I'm sure that Atticus warned Darla about her." Adella said.

Jessica sighed. "I hope you're right..."


	10. Chapter 10

The next morning on dry land, it was time for Eric's tour for his guests. Ariel was amazed by everything even before they started to look all around.

"Have they kissed them yet?" Flounder asked Sebastian as they passed the water.

"Not yet." Sebastian told him.

"Ohh..." Flounder pouted before going back under the sea.

'They will later on.' Atticus thought to himself.

"Ready?" Cherry was at Atticus's side.

"I sure am." Atticus whispered.

Cherry and Atticus then set off to get Eric to kiss Ariel and Darla to kiss Urchin before time would run out from Ursula's deal. But before that, they were given the tour of the kingdom. During the tour, Cherry and Atticus had to try to get the couples together. They were going through the town and joined in on some dancing. Eric helped Ariel with her dancing while Darla helped Urchin.

'Perfect, dancing usually brings two people together.' Atticus thought to himself with a smile.

"This could work..." Cherry said as they watched.

"Yeah." Atticus whispered.

The two young couples danced with the other people, but there was no kissing yet.

"Yo, guys!" Scuttle called to Cherry and Atticus. "Any kissing?"

"Not yet." Cherry and Atticus told the seagull.

Scuttle frowned. "Well, they better get crackin'!"

"Keep your tail feathers on!" Atticus told the seagull.

Eric decided that the kids would enjoy a puppet show, so they took a stop by there. Ariel was intrigued by the puppets and even took one off the hand of the puppeteer, then was surprised to see it was no longer moving and she didn't understand why or how.

'Well, that was a surprise she'll never forget.' Atticus thought to himself.

Urchin looked puzzled like Ariel did. Darla looked puzzled the most of all. Eric took them to move on.

There was a horse-carriage ride and Eric thought it would be nice if he was alone with Ariel on it. Atticus decided to sneak by and watch while Cherry would handle Darla and Urchin.

'I just know this is going to work.' Atticus thought to himself.

"Hmm..." Cherry was trying to think of a romantic scene for two kids that were seven and nine-years-old. She then came up with a perfect romantic plan.

Urchin was clearly in love with Darla after hearing her sing, but Darla did not seem to notice how he felt about her.

"So, why did you trade your merman life for a human?" Darla asked.

"Uhh... Well, to make sure Ariel would be okay." Urchin made up an excuse.

"Uh-huh, sure." Darla said, unconvinced.

"Well, she's my sister..." Urchin insisted.

Darla looked at him. "Urchin, what's the real reason?"

"Just told ya, Goldilocks..." Urchin called her by his nickname for her again.

"Okay, okay." Darla said.

'This is getting awkward...' Cherry narrowed her eyes at Darla and Urchin's interactions.

"Um... I like your singing..." Urchin glanced back.

Darla sighed softly. "Thank you."

"Well, at least they're talking." Cherry groaned quietly.

"How long have you sang?" Urchin asked.

"Since I was almost four..." Darla rubbed her arm. "I always had a song in my heart..."

"You don't sound very happy about it?" Urchin looked at her.

"Well, it's just that I've always wondered where it came from..." Darla shrugged. "Like, whether if my mother or my father sang."

"Can't you ask them?" Urchin asked, referring to Patrick and Emily.

"I don't think they know." Darla frowned.

"What do you mean?" Urchin asked.

"Oh, you don't know?" Darla looked back. "I was adopted."

"Oh, I guess I didn't know." Urchin said.

"Yes..." Darla slowly nodded. "I lived in an orphanage after my real parents were in a car accident... One day, a movie producer came to the orphanage and had a talent show for a special child to represent after his other clients got too old. I almost didn't audition because I didn't think I was anything special."

"So then, what happened?" Urchin asked.

"Well, I sang my song, and Mr. Mammoth liked me..." Darla explained. "I packed my bags, moved out of the orphanage, and my new life was set. I moved into a magical kingdom called 'Hollywood'... I was immediately pampered and spoiled and I starred in my first featured film called 'Li'l Dickens'. It was the story of a little girl adopted by a movie producer and she becomes a big celebrity star."

"So, basically that movie was based on your life." Urchin noticed.

"Yes, and I starred in more films after that," Darla listed. "Yankee Doodle Darla, Darla Got Yer Gun, Darladdin and the Magic Lamp..."

"So basically, all of the movies you have been in have had your first name in them." Urchin said.

"Not all of them..." Darla looked at him, then folded his arms. "Li'l Ark Angel didn't..."

"What was that one about?" Urchin asked.

"The people were so bad, so the Lord made the rain come down and all of the people drowned," Darla explained. "I was basically an angel from Heaven above and I built a boat and put all the animals two-by-two in my little boat on the sea."

"Wow." Urchin said.

"That movie didn't make it off the ground so much..." Darla continued.

"What happened?" Urchin asked.

"Um... I did something terrible..." Darla pouted.

"It couldn't have been that bad." Urchin assured her.

"Wanna bet?" Darla looked into his eyes.

Urchin insisted she should go on.

"Well..." Darla curled her finger in her hair which strung the curl before she let go and it bounced back into a golden curl she was known for. "I was a rather unhappy little girl... I always focused on getting my way and what I would want... This cat named Danny was so insistent on becoming a movie star and I didn't like it one bit, so I decided to try to sabotage his plans with the other animals... So I went with my butler Max and we flooded the stage they were on when Mammoth had a press conference so he would get mad and kick all of the animals out of Hollywood."

"Oh, my..." Urchin said with wide eyes.

"It worked..." Darla held her knees in her arms.

"I-I'm sure that everything got better." Urchin said.

"I lost everything..." Darla twiddled her fingers.

*Flashback*

Danny and Sawyer were going to become stars with their friends and the press took a picture of it.

Darla got up from the trap door that she fell through as her karmic downfall and Max was nowhere to be found. She dusted herself as she was badly battered and watched as she got what she deserved. "I didn't mean to hurt anybody..." she said with tears in her eyes.

"I hope you're proud of yourself, Darla..." LB scolded. "I'm afraid I won't be representing you anymore."

"Please, just give me another chance!" Darla begged.

"No!" LB glared at her. "No more chances."

Darla felt herself shrink inside, this had to be the worst day of her life.

"Sell off her house for an auction in the morning..." LB told Flannigan.

"My house...?" Darla was now heartbroken. "Where will I live? Where will I stay!?"

"I don't know and I don't care!" LB glared at her again.

Darla squeezed her eyes shut as more tears came into her eyes. The audience gave no sympathy, they only viewed Darla as a spoiled and self-obsessed brat and they thought she deserved her punishment in the end. Darla had been reduced into becoming a janitor and was forced to clean up after every movie set and movie going for the rest of her life. No one cared or even gave her remorse. That was, until Atticus and Cherry decided to help her with cleaning up the mess.

*End of Flashback*

"Goldilocks, I had no idea..." Urchin was surprised. "At least you remember your parents a little..."

"You don't remember yours?" Darla asked.

'Shut up and kiss already!' Cherry growled in her head.

"No, I never found out about them." Urchin frowned.

"Oh, I'm so sorry..." Darla scooted closer to him and held out her arms to hug him.

Urchin looked to her and the two shared a hug as he let tears roll down his face. This was as close to a romantic moment that they could get. Cherry rolled her eyes, but it was better than nothing. Scuttle came to a tree and looked to her. Cherry shook her head, knowing he would ask if Darla and Urchin had kissed yet or not. This only caused for the seagull to groan.

Eric came back with Atticus and Ariel from the horse-carriage ride, Atticus and Eric looked a little pale due to what happened during the ride.

"Did they kiss?" Cherry asked Atticus.

"No." Atticus shook his head.

"You okay?" Cherry asked.

"Ariel wanted to drive..." Atticus shuddered slightly.

"Goodness..." Cherry smirked rather darkly.

"You wouldn't act like that if you got to experience her driving like me and Eric did." Atticus said.

"Meh." Cherry shrugged carelessly.

"I wonder about you sometimes..." Atticus shook his head at her.

"You love me really." Cherry ruffled up his hair.

"Yes, but like a sister and like a sister you drive me crazy sometimes." Atticus said.

"Eh, I'm genetically designed to become a royal pain in the butt..." Cherry chuckled at herself.

"You can be a pain at times." Atticus said.

"Why do I even have friends?" Cherry looked off with an actually sad smile, she seemed to have actual smiles when she would be sad for some reason.

"Because friends are always there for you whenever you're sad or upset." Atticus said.

"I'm not sad, I have nothing to be sad about." Cherry kept her obviously depressed smile.

"You sure?" Atticus asked.

Cherry looked at him, then away. "Nuthin'..."

Atticus hummed at her.

Soon, it was after dark, and Eric was going to take Ariel for a boat ride. And where Urchin and Darla were going to join them to make this a double date. Eric found it cute since they were little kids. They were rowing across the lagoon.

"Move over," Flounder told Scuttle as they spied on the affair. "Move your big feathers! I can't see a thing!"

"Nothing is happening and only one day left." Scuttle told him.

"Dang it, there's gotta be a way to get them to kiss." Atticus groaned as he and Cherry had joined the fish and seagull.

"All right, this calls for a little vocal romantic stimulation, stand back." Scuttle said.

"No!" Cherry tried to stop him.

Scuttle flew over and sang very badly.

"Too late." Atticus groaned quietly.

"This takes me back..." Cherry covered her ears.

"To what?" Atticus asked.

"That parrot puppet at Captain Kiddie's carnival." Cherry told him.

"Oh, right." Atticus said.

"Wow," Eric cringed. "Somebody should find that poor animal and put it out of its misery." he then said in an attempt to joke with Ariel.

Ariel simply nodded with a nervous smile before looking up to see her seagull friend attempting to sing.

"Jeez, man, I'm surrounded by amateurs!" Sebastian groaned.

"Please tell me you have a better idea." Cherry said to the crab.

"Please, please, please tell us that you have a better idea." Atticus begged the crab.

"Of course I do, Atticus, don't you remember that I'm a composer in Atlantica?" Sebastian rhetorically asked.

"Oh, right, then this date is saved." Atticus smiled.

"A crab is a composer?" Cherry asked.

"That's what you find weird about this adventure?" Atticus looked at her.

Cherry shrugged.

"You want something done right, you've got to do it yourself," Sebastian scoffed, then smiled as he summoned musicians to provide music. "First, we've got to create the mood."

"You got that right." Atticus smiled.

"Percussions, strings, winds, words..." Sebastian called for the instruments.

Darla waved her hand into the water as she floated with Urchin across from her. "Well..." she then yawned. "It's kinda getting kinda more or less rather LATE!"

"I'm sure this will get more exciting." Urchin said.

"It better..." Darla was very bored now.

It was indeed going to get more exciting, but in the romantic way. Sebastian made the music fill the air, but Eric could not see where it was coming from.

Eric noticed it, but not a whole lot. "Did you hear something?"

Ariel simply shook her head with a shrug. Sebastian was singing with the music to lure Eric into falling in love with Ariel and Darla with Urchin. And where at times, it seem to work.

"You know, I feel really bad not knowing your name," Eric said to the crimson-haired girl. "Hey, maybe I could guess... Is it... Erm... Mildred?"

Ariel shook her head.

"Okay, no, how about Diana?" Eric guesed then.

Ariel looked disgusted with that name.

"Rachel?" Eric tried.

"Ariel, her name is Ariel." Sebastian whispered to him.

"Ariel?" Eric asked, not sure who had said that.

Ariel smiled.

"Ariel?" Eric repeated, he assumed that had to had been her name. "Well, that's kinda pretty... Ariel."

'Perfect, now he knows her name.' Atticus thought himself with a smile.

Darla sighed as she waded in the water.

"You look prettier without a bow." Urchin spat out.

Darla looked back at him. "You think so?"

"Yeah." Urchin nodded.

"I've always worn a bow..." Darla shrugged. "Even my old swimming cap had a bow with it."

"Well, with or without a bow, you look pretty." Urchin smiled.

"You really think so?" Darla's smile grew slightly.

"I can tell by your eyes." Urchin smiled back.

"My eyes...?" Darla asked.

"Everything about you is just cute as it is beautiful." Urchin complimented.

"Awww! Thank you, Urchin." Darla blushed with a smile.

Urchin smiled, this was working like a charm.

"Hoo-ray..." Cherry 'cheered'.

"Now, all they need to do is kiss." Atticus whispered.

Nothing could ruin this moment. Ariel and Urchin were about to be given their kisses. However, before anything could happen, the boat tipped over and the four of them ended up in the water.

"Dang it!" Atticus groaned.

"I am not amused." Cherry's eyes narrowed.

"Darla, are you okay?" Urchin asked the blonde girl worriedly.

Darla coughed up some water and cleared her throat. "I'm okay..."

"Don't worry, I gotcha." Eric said, helping Ariel up.

Ariel was surprised, but she smiled that he saved her.

Ursula's Cavern...

"Nice work, boys, that was a close one," Ursula told her eels. "Too close! Those little tramps! Oh, they're better than I thought... At this rate, they'll be getting kissed by sunset for sure... Well, it's time Ursula took matters into her own tentacles! Triton's brats will be mine, and then I'll make those humans writhe! I'll see them wriggle on a hook like a couple of worms!"

"What are you going to do about the Dimple girl then?" Flotsam asked.

"Yes, what are you going to do about her?" Jetsam added in.

"I know what to do with the prince, but I'll need a volunteer to distract the golden girl herself." Ursula grinned darkly.

Flotsam and Jetsam looked to each other nervously. They both then started nervously swim away.

"GET BACK HERE!" Ursula yelled.

The eels swam back unwillingly.

"I'll handle the prince, you get the girl, you just need to distract her long enough for me to take the prince." Ursula told them.

"How do we do that?" Jetsam asked.

"Make her forget about the merboy." Ursula insisted.

"How do we do that?" Flotsam asked.

"BE CREATIVE!" Ursula told the spineless eels.

"Yes, Ursula..." Flotsam and Jetsam muttered in agreement.

"Perfect..." Ursula grinned once she took Ariel's voice and transformed into a human woman with flowing brown hair and crystal blue eyes. "From now on, call me Vanessa."

"Yes, Vanessa." Flotsam and Jetsam bowed their heads.

"Now, you'll have to look different than you do now." Ursula said.

Flotsam and Jetsam looked to each other before Ursula cast her magic on the two eels in order for her new plan to work so she oculd get what she wanted from her deal with Ariel and Urchin, playing crudely unfair. The two eels were merged into one and was now a strong, young boy that was the same age as Urchin, only this boy had dark red hair. Once they were set, they moved onto dry land as it was late.

Eric was outside, playing his flute while Darla was getting ready for bed.

'Well, they were close to kissing.' Atticus thought to himself.

Cherry was looking through her book. "One more chapter before bed..." she yawned as she flipped to one page.

And when she saw the next page, she was shocked.

"Oh, no, no, no, no." Cherry muttered, but had wide eyes.

"What is it, dear?" Michelle asked.

"I have to talk with Atticus right now!" Cherry told her mother.

"Um, okay." Michelle said.

Cherry put her book in her arm and rushed down the hallway to find Atticus.

Eric was playing his flute after Grimsby came to check on him, but he stopped when he heard Ariel's singing voice, which was odd since Ariel could not speak anymore. He looked out to see a beautiful young woman in the sand and he felt hypnotized by her singing like a Siren in the Odyssey.

Darla was about to get to bed, but she felt a disturbance, she went out to the balcony and saw a shadowed figure of a boy a little bit older than her. "Who's there?" she demanded sharply. "I got a brother who's as strong as Hercules."

"Don't worry, I mean you no harm." The boy said.

Darla calmed down a little, she came closer. "Um... Who are you and what do you want?" she put her hands on her hips then.

"My name is Ryan," the strange boy said. "I just wanted to come and talk."

"Um... Okay..." Darla shrugged, this boy seemed friendly enough, she then walked over to him and sat on the end of the balcony, being careful not to fall and she got a look at the boy. "Erm... What would you like to talk about?"

"Anything you would like to talk about, Beautiful." Ryan said.

"Oh, I'm not that beautiful..." Darla smiled slyly, soaking that up.

"Oh, but you are..." Ryan insisted and put his hand on her face and stroked it. "You look so beautiful for a six-year-old girl..."

Darla giggled shyly to that. "I'm actually seven and I have a birthday coming up."

"Well then, Happy early Birthday." Ryan said.

Darla smiled bashfully then. "Thank you... This'll probably be my first birthday in a long time I've celebrated with anybody... Um, it's late, I should be getting to bed..."

"Of course, well, good night, sweet princess." Ryan said before kissing her.

Darla's eyes widened from the kiss and she felt a little bit different. Ryan allowed her to get some sleep, then seemed to slither down from the balcony. Darla wobbily came back to her guest bed and flopped on the bed, going into a deep sleep until morning. Eric couldn't seem to be able to think straight. Ursula's fiendish and wicked plan was working like a charm so far as she was now using Ariel's singing to hypnotize Eric.

"Atticus Fudo, where are you?" Cherry nearly growled as she still couldn't find her friend.

"Over here." Atticus said.

Cherry looked over and rushed over. "Listen to me."

"What's wrong?" Atticus asked.

"Where's Ariel and Urchin?" Cherry asked. "They're in danger!"

"What kind of danger?" Atticus asked.

"Ursula's hatching a plan," Cherry opened up her book. "She's disguising herself as a human woman and using Ariel's voice to seduce Eric into marrying her so Ariel can belong to Ursula."

"Oh, no..." Atticus said with widened eyes.

"Where's Ariel?" Cherry slammed the book shut.

"She's asleep, but... We can't wake her..." Atticus tried to be considerate.

"We have to tell her though!" Cherry inssited.

"If we do, then she might think we're lying." Atticus said.

"The truth is a pain, but we all have to suffer through it and it'll only set us free..." Cherry insisted, rather vulgarly.

"Yeah, but how do we tell her?" Atticus asked.

"Ariel, Ursula is tricking you to get your boyfriend, sorry, but life isn't always just a bowl of cherries, it's a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get." Cherry recited.

"Oh, sure and then she gets heartbroken and accepts her fate being Ursula's for the rest of her life!" Atticus glared.

"Hey, just being honest..." Cherry shrugged innocently.

"We'll figure out what to do in the morning." Atticus said.

"So you do need my help..." Cherry walked off. "I didn't think I was very useful to you."

"Of course you are useful." Atticus said.

"I guess we'll wait until morning..." Cherry walked off. "night, Atticus."

Atticus nodded to her before joining Ariel to bed. "Night, Cherry."

The two friends went their separate ways for the night in hopes that they could get to Ariel and Urchin with the news before there would be a painful misunderstanding in the morning. Unfortunately, the next day wouldn't be such a good morning.


	11. Chapter 11

"Ariel, Ariel!" Scuttle was flying towards Eric's castle. "Wake up! I just heard the news. Congratulations, kiddo, we did it!"

"What is this idiot babbling about?" Sebastian asked with a yawn.

"Right, as if you two didn't know, huh?" Scuttle smirked. "The whole town's buzzin' about the prince gettin' himself hitched this afternoon! You know, he's getting married! You silly side-walker! I just wanted to wish you luck. I'll catch you later, I wouldn't miss it!"

"Really?" Urchin sounded delighted for his foster sister. "And what about Darla?"

"Well, you two are too young to get married, but she was talking about the boy of her dreams from last night and who else could that be?" Scuttle smiled to the former merboy.

This caused for Urchin and Ariel to smile. Scuttle then flew off for a little while, but promised to come back later.

"Let's go see 'em!" Urchin said to Ariel.

Ariel nodded in agreement and with that, they came downstairs to see Eric and Darla, but were instantly heartbroken once they saw something they did not want to see.

Eric was standing in front of Grimsby and Cherry's parents with 'Vanessa' on his arm and was making wedding arrangements with her and not Ariel. And where Darla was somehow in love with someone else. Ariel couldn't bear to watch Eric in love with someone else.

Urchin came over to Darla as she was picking a flower's petals, doing the traditional 'he loves me, he loves me not' ordeal that many little girls did when they believed they were in love. "Goldilocks?" he called to the girl.

"Hmm?" Darla had a clearly in love smile. "Oh, I didn't see you there... Isn't this a wonderful turn of events? The prince is getting married and I've found my soulmate..."

"Really?" Urchin asked, hopeful.

"Oh, yes..." Darla giggled, looking lost in her own little world and it looked to be a very happy place with warmth and fluff all around.

"Do I know this boy or merboy?" Urchin asked.

"Of course..." Darla giggled.

"Say his name for me?" Urchin smirked, feeling he already knew the answer.

"Ryan." Darla said.

"What!?" Urchin's eyes widened then in betrayal. "Darla, what about us!?"

"Oh, I'm gonna marry him..." Darla smiled as she plucked the final petal.

This shocked Urchin very dearly.

Darla giggled. "He loves me!" she then let the final petal fall.

As Urchin watched the flower petal fall, he felt like his heart had done the same in his chest.

Atticus and Cherry ran downstairs and were shocked to see Eric with Vanessa.

"Well, uh, Er-Eric," Grimsby said once he met the woman of Eric's dreams. "I-It appears that we were mistaken. This mystery maiden of yours does, in fact, exist. A-And she is lovely. Congratulations, my dear."

"We wish to be married as soon as possible." Eric informed.

"Rushing into things, aren't we?" Bud asked.

"Remember, I was six months pregnant when we got married." Michelle whispered to her husband.

"Yes, I remember." Bud whispered back.

"This afternoon, Grimsby," Eric told the elder man. "The wedding ship departs at sunset."

"Oh, very well, Eric," Grimsby eventually agreed. "As you wish."

Ariel and Urchin were both heartbroken, they both ran off, crying bitter tears. Vanessa looked and saw this and quietly evilly chuckled to herself. Cherry and Atticus were now coming to possibly help Urchin and Ariel, but when they came, it was too late. They could already see that the two were already heartbroken.

"Well, let's go break the news." Cherry walked ahead.

"Yeah." Atticus frowned.

Ariel and Urchin were on the pier, crying their eyes out. Cherry and Atticus walked over.

"Listen, guys, we know what's wrong..." Cherry spoke up.

Sebastian and Flounder looked up.

"Could you come back later?" Sebastian asked. "The poor kids just got their hearts broken!"

"Cherry, I think they just need sometime alone." Atticus said.

Cherry rolled her eyes. "Okay..."

The two friends then left since Ariel and Urchin were in no condition to talk. Cherry took off her shoes and put her feet in the water and relaxed, slowly shutting her eyes. 

"You okay?" Atticus asked.

"Jsut thinking about how crazy my life is..." Cherry said with one eye open before closing it again.

"Oh, come on, your life can't be that crazy." Atticus assured her.

"Let's see..." Cherry took out a notebook. "Frankenstein... The Wolfman... A woman obsessed with catching and skinning 101 Dalmatians... A man who controls and uses shadows for evil... The Looney Tunes... An author who was tricking us into finding his ancestor's spell book so they could rule the world together... An island filled with zombies... Alien invaders... A magical land of singing and talking ponies..."

"Okay, okay, you've made your point." Atticus said.

"Building a rocket... Fighting a mummy... Climbing up the Eiffel tower... Discovering something that doesn't exist... Giving a monkey a shower... Surfing tidal waves... Locating Frankenstein's brain..." Cherry babbled on.

"Huh?" Atticus said, confused.

"Arson... Murder... Jaywalking..." Cherry babbled.

"Now you're just making up stories!" Atticus said to her.

"Gotcha." Cherry smirked in victory.

"Anyways, you've made your point, but do you know what I don't get?" Atticus asked.

"How are we still alive after all we've been through?" Cherry asked back.

"That and that why do I have this feeling that there's more..." Atticus said before realizing something. "Wait, this isn't the end. Cherry, how many pages are there still left in the book you were reading?"

"Uhh..." Cherry looked at the last chapter she read. "About fifteen, why?"

"It's the answer the book can be able to help us!" Atticus told her with a smile.

"You creep me out sometimes..." Cherry said as she skimmed through the pages. "I swear, you're probably gonna give your future kids a bunch of books for Christmas instead of a computer or something."

"Maybe, maybe not." Atticus shrugged.

"So, what now, genius?" Cherry handed her book to Atticus.

"Let's flip ahead to where we are now." Atticus said.

"The last chapter I read was Ariel and Eric's tour of the kingdom." Cherry leaned over to help guide him through the book.

Atticus began to flip through the pages until he finally got to where they were. Cherry cupped some of the water in her hands and splashed her face, feeling rather hot from the afternoon sun.

Scuttle was flying by as it got closer to the wedding and he overheard some singing in Ariel's voice, which surprised him, both in a confused and good way. And so he decided to take a look at the bride to be through the port-hole.

"What a lovely little bride I'll make, my dear, I'll look divine~" Vanessa sang. "Things are working out according to my ultimate design... Soon I'll have that little mermaid and that orphan and the ocean will be mine!~" the wicked now human woman laughed until she looked into the mirror and Ursula's reflection was shown.

"That sea witch!" Scuttle realized the problem. "Oh, no, she's gonna... I gotta--" he ran into a side of the ship, then flew off. "ARIEL! URCHIN!"

"Is that Scuttle?" Atticus asked, looking up from the book.

Cherry looked around.

"INCOMING!" Scuttle called.

Cherry turned her head, yelped, and ducked as the seagull zoomed like a biplane.

"Whoa, Scuttle, what's the rush?" Atticus asked.

"I have to find Ariel and Urchin, I just found out something very important!" Scuttle panicked.

Atticus and Cherry began to lead Scuttle over to Ariel and Urchin.

Ariel and Urchin still looked miserable, but they had stopped crying. Sebastian and Flounder kept them company and support the best that they could offer. 

"Ariel! Urchin!" Scuttle called out.

The two then turned their heads. Cherry and Atticus followed Scuttle.

"Scuttle has something very important to tell you." Atticus told them.

Ariel and Urchin looked curious.

"Tell them, bird." Cherry allowed.

"I was flying, I wa--Of course I was flying. And--I-I s-saw that the watch - the witch was watchin' a mirror, and she was singin' with a stolen set of pipes! Do you hear what I'm tellin' you? THE PRINCE IS MARRYING THE SEA WITCH IN DISGUISE!" Scuttle frantically explained.

This shocked Ariel and Urchin.

"What about Goldilocks?" Urchin asked.

"I dunno, but knowin' Ursula, she's probably brainwashed that blondie too." Scuttle speculated.

"And my guess is that she used her eels to help her brainwash Darla." Atticus said.

Cherry scoffed. "Brainwash... How cliche..."

"It does make sense." Flounder said.

"Are you sure about this?" Sebastian asked.

"When have I ever been wrong?" Scuttle asked, then glanced at them. "I mean when it's important!"

"What're we gonna do?" Flounder felt doomed.

"We have to get on that ship," Atticus said. "I have a feeling Darla will be there too."

Ariel saw she and Urchin were running out of time, she then nudged Urchin and pointed to the water.

"Good idea, we'll swim over." Urchin seemed to know what she meant to say if she could still talk.

The two then jumped in the water, but unfortunately, even though they were both born with tail fins, they could not swim very well.

"I'm gonna have to help them get to the ship." Atticus said.

"Oh, what're you gonna--" Cherry was about to scoff.

Atticus jumped into the water, due to not making the deal, he was still able to turn into a young merman and helped his cousins swim to the ship.

"Do...?" Cherry's eyes widened. She then groaned before jumping in herself.

"Can you even swim?" Atticus asked.

"Adrenaline!" Cherry told him, trying to keep herself up.

"I'll take that as a kind of." Atticus said.

Sebastian sent down some barrels to help keep Ariel, Cherry, and Urchin afloat.

"Quick, Ariel, Urchin, Cherry, you three each grab onto a barrel and Flounder, come over here and help me get all three of them to the ship." Atticus told them.

"I'll try." Flounder said before going over.

"Good idea, Atticus." Sebastian agreed.

"W-What about me?" Scuttle asked. "What about me?"

"You find a way to stall the wedding!" Cherry told him as she tried to keep floating.

"Yeah, and Sebastian, go and tell Uncle Triton, he has to know about this." Atticus told the crab.

Scuttle flew off to stall the wedding while Sebastian went under the sea, a little nervously and hesitantly, but he went through with it. Scuttle rallied up sea creatures to help him in his little plan.


	12. Chapter 12

The wedding was starting, 'Vanessa' was walking down the aisle. Max knew this was not Ariel and he could sense her truly evil personality and gave her a growl. Vanessa then kicked him in return. 

Darla, still brainwashed, was indeed at the wedding and was the flower girl. 'Ryan' was also the ring bearer. Vanessa and Eric had walked down the aisle and met the priest.

"Dearly beloved..." the priest started.

"We're gonna make it, we're almost there." Atticus said while swimming.

"We're gonna make it..." Flounder groaned. "Don't worry, guys."

They were going to make it, but hopefully before the sun would set.

Cherry gulped as she moved through the water. "Guh... So hungry... So tired..."

"Yes, um, do you Eric, take Vanessa, to be your lawfully wedded wife, for as long as you both shall live?" the priest asked.

"I do." Eric said, under the spell.

Vanessa and Ryan looked at the sun as it was almost close to setting.

"And, eh, do you--" the priest turned to Vanessa.

Scuttle had rounded up several sea creatures to stall the wedding and make Vanessa and Ryan miserable. And where both he and the sea creatures seem to be doing a great job at stalling the wedding. Vanessa tried to get them off, but they kept attacking her and Ryan, also humiliating them. 

Ariel and Urchin were almost there. All they had to do now was climb up the ship along with Atticus and Cherry. Scuttle flew by to try to gain Ariel's voie back.

"Hey, get away from her!" Ryan yelled while trying to pull the seagull away from Vanessa.

A seal then came underneath Ryan and bounced him like a circus ball.

"Hey, put me down!" Ryan demanded.

Ryan grabbed onto Vanessa's shell necklace.

"Get off of that!" Vanessa warned him.

Ryan accidentally broke off the necklace and it fell to the deck and broke in half. "Oops..." he said, now sounding like the two eels.

Ariel's voice was heard and it floated over to the rightful owner as she stood next to Urchin on deck.

Eric and Darla seemed to come out of their spells and restored to normal.

"Ariel/Urchin?" Eric and Darla asked.

"Eric/Darla." Ariel and Urchin smiled.

"Ariel, you can talk," Eric smiled. "You're the one!"

"Ooh, what happened?" Darla rubbed her eyes once Urchin came to her side. 

"You were brainwashed." Urchin said.

"Eric, get away from her!" Vanessa told the black-haired prince, sounding like Ursula before realizing she had her original voice now.

"Darla, get away from him!" Ryan told the blonde-haired girl, sounding like Flotsam and Jetsam speaking in unison.

"I-It was you all the time..." Eric was surprised, ignoring Ursula.

"Oh, Eric, I wanted to tell you..." Ariel grew emotional.

"So... You love me?" Darla asked Urchin. 

"Y-Yes, I love you, Darla, I love you with all my heart." Urchin told her honestly.

"Oh, Urchin, I had no idea..." Darla sounded overjoyed.

Darla and Eric were about to kiss Urchin and Ariel, but... The sun was now setting and Airel and Urchin's tail fins were coming back. 

"Oh, no, but then that means--" Darla said, worried, before looking to see that the sun had set.

"You're too late!" Vanessa said wildly, in Ursula's voice again as her tentacles started to sprout. "TOO LATE! So long, lover boy and lover girl!" she then laughed, grabbing Ariel and Urchin to go overboard with them. 

"Ariel!" Eric called out.

"Urchin!" Darla called out.

Cherry flopped on the deck, slowly and queasily panting, looking rather ill. 

"Cherry, you stay on the ship, I'm going down in the ocean to fight a certain witch." Atticus said before diving back in the ocean.

Cherry slowly gave out a thumb's up while she nearly passed out.

"Is she going to be okay?" Grimsby asked, referring to Cherry.

Cherry gulped and looked very sick.

"Oh, poor baby..." Michelle hugged her daughter. 

"Why did she come out here?" Bud asked.

"Helping... Atticus..." Cherry grunted before cupping her mouth, rushing to the end of the ship and heaved heavily. "Oh, why do these things happen to me!?"

"Uncle Triton!" Atticus called as he was swimming through the ocean floor. 

"Atticus! Sebastian told me everything, where is that sea witch Ursula?" Triton asked.

"This way, come on!" Atticus gestured for him to come follow. "She's got Ariel and Urchin!" 

"She had better not harm them." Triton said.

Ursula was dragging Ariel and Urchin under the sea with her with Flotsam and Jetsam's help.

"Ursula, stop!" Triton demanded.

"Why, it's King Triton!" Ursula smirked with a low chuckle. "How are you?"

"Let them go!" Triton demanded. 

"Immediately!" Atticus added.

"Not a chance!" Ursula declined. "They're mine now, we made a deal." 

"Dad, we're so sorry." Urchin said.

"W-We didn't mean to," Ariel added nervously and scaredly.

Triton saw the contract, he then decided to blast it so Ariel and Urchin wouldn't belong to Ursula anymore, but unfortunately, his magic wouldn't break through it.

"What the?!" Atticus said out complete shock.

Triton tried again, but still had no avail.

Ursula only laughed at this. "You see? The contract's legal, binding and completely unbreakable, even for YOU," she smiled evilly to the king of the sea. "Of course, I always was a girl with an eye for a bargain. The daughter and foster son of the great sea king are both very precious commodity. But, I might be willing to make an exchange for someone even better..."

"No! There must be another way to get them out of their contract!" Atticus insisted.

"Stay out of this!" Ursula hissed at him, then smirked to Triton. "So, what's it gonna be?" she asked as she made up a contract to force Triton to sign in order to free Ariel and Urchin.

It seemed as if Triton didn't have a choice.

"Uncle Triton, don't do it!" Atticus tried to stop him.

"I'm sorry, Atticus, but I have to..." Triton was defeated. 

"Now, do we have a deal?" Ursula asked, already knowing the answer as she wielded the contract at hand.

Triton, knowing that this was the only way, used his trident and signed his name on the contract.

"Ha!" Ursula felt victorious. "It's done then!"

Ariel and Urchin were now free, but Triton was now going to be punished.

"No!" Urchin cried out.

"Oh, no!" Ariel moaned.

Ursula laughed once she gained power and made Triton completely and utterly useless like the poor and unfortunate souls she had imprisoned in the past.

"Oh, your majesty..." Sebastian sighed to his fallen king.

"Daddy..." Ariel felt so emotional right now.

"Uncle Triton...." Atticus added in.

"At last!" Ursula laughed once she picked up the crown. "It's mine!"

Urchin glared at Ursula. "You monster!"

Ariel, Urchin, and Atticus then attacked the sea witch all at once.

Eric was rowing away from the ship in his own boat.

"Eric!" Grimsby called. "What are you doing!?"

"Grim, I lost her once, I'm not going to lose her again!" Eric insisted.

"I'm going with you, Urchin's in trouble too!" Darla rushed over and jumped in the boat.

"Are you sure you want to come?" Eric asked.

"Yes." Darla nodded.

"Okay... Be careful..." Eric warned her.

"Careful is my middle name." Darla insisted.

"I thought your middle name was 'Dimple'?" Cherry asked with a smirk.

Darla gave her a deadpan look. "Just for that, you're coming too!"

Cherry rolled her eyes and joined in anyway. "Can't get any worse than it is now..."

Ursula's laugh was heard as she was now queen of the sea and was becoming nightmarishly evil.

"You just had to say it." Darla glared.

"Hey, everybody else says it and I tell them not to say it." Cherry glared back.

"Touche." Darla said.

Cherry stuck her tongue out.

"Stand back, girls..." Eric took out a harpoon to strike Ursula down with.

"We're going in with you." Darla said.

Ursula laughed as thunder crashed and lightning flashed. It was a horrible evening for all. Her laughter was interrupted as she was attacked by Ariel, Urchin, and Atticus.

"Don't fool with me, you little brats!" Ursula snarled at them. "Contract or no--" she then suddenly yelled out in sharp pain.

Eric had thrown the harpoon. 

"Why, you little trolls!" Ursula glared at Eric, Cherry, and Darla.

"Eric, girls, look out!" Ariel, Atticus, and Urchin told the three.

"After them!" Ursula told her eel minions.

Flotsam and Jetsam then went straight after the helpers.

"We're almost there." Darla said as they reached the row boat.

The eels came closer.

Ursula laughed to Atticus, Ariel, and Urchin. "Say goodbye to your sweethearts!"

Ariel glared, she hit Ursula which made her miss blasting after Cherry, Eric, and Darla, and she accidentally had zapped Flotsam and Jetsam and they were now no more.

"Yes!" Atticus cheered.

The boat was struck however and Cherry, Darla, and Eric were in the water, but not hurt.

"Eric, you and the others have got to get out of here." Ariel warned.

"No," Eric held onto her. "I won't leave you."

"Neither will I." Darla said.

Ursula was growing into a colossal size that was nearly shaking everybody.

"Oh, no, I have a bad feeling something big is coming." Atticus said.

"You pitiful, insignificant fools!" Ursula laughed as she grew to a very large size.

"Godzilla!" Cherry randomly exclaimed.

"Wrong location for that." Atticus told her.

"I don't care!" Cherry flopped.

"What do we do?" Darla asked.

"I'll tell you one thing," Eric looked to her. "LOOK OUT!"

"Now I am the ruler of all the ocean!" Ursula bellowed in victory as she wreaked havoc for everyone, whether on land or sea. "The waves obey my every whim! The sea and all its spoils bow to my power!" She began to make her own whirlpool. 

Some shipwrecks were raised in return.

"You wanna tell me next time you have a mermaid for a cousin?" Cherry muttered to Atticus.

"Ah, give me a break!" Atticus groaned to her.

"ERIC!/DARLA!" Ariel and Urchin panicked for their human loved ones.

Eric and Darla both grabbed onto a rope. Ariel and Urchin fell to the bottom of the whirlpool.

"Cherry, take a deep breath, I know you can't swim, but hold onto my back." Atticus instructed.

Cherry grabbed on his back and held on as tight as she could and took a deep breath. Atticus then dove under water and swam after his cousins. Cherry looked around as they were under the sea. They didn't look for long as the both of them found them at the bottom of the whirlpool.

"So much for true love!" Ursula laughed as she attempted to blast at Ariel and Urchin, but she kept on missing them.

Eric gasped and glared, he then steered his ship to try to knock Ursula down a notch.

"Let's kill the witch!" Darla declared.

"On it!" Eric agreed.

Cherry looked very dizzy from being underwater for so long. Atticus noticed this and began to get her up to the surface.

Once they were in the surface, Cherry took a deep gasp of air and breathed gently to catch her breath. "Sorry about that..."

"It's okay." Atticus said.

"Did we win?" Cherry looked around.

"Hang on tight, Darla!" Eric warned the blonde girl as he steered the ship straight for Ursula.

"I'm hanging on!" Darla called back.

Eric narrowed his eyes as he tried to sneak up on Ursula as she quite literally rose Hell on Earth.

'Here we go.' Darla thought to herself.

Eric steered the ship right into Ursula. Darla covered her eyes in case it would be too graphic, she was only a little girl after all. Ursula was impaled and the ship had killed her and she dropped the trident in the process.

"We did it!" Eric cheered.

"Is it over?" Darla asked.

Eric uncovered her eyes and held her in a comforting way. "It's okay... It's okay..."


	13. Chapter 13

The nightmare was over and the souls that Ursula had kept in the past were released and were able to live their lives again in peace and harmony. Triton was released as well after his trident landed on the ground. It now seemed to be like morning and Eric was washed up on shore. Jessica, Patrick, and Emily hugged Atticus once he came back to the sea to check in with them before he would go back on the surface.

"Don't ever scare us like that ever again!" Jessica told him.

"I'm sorry..." Atticus smiled to his family. "I just wanted to make sure things were going to be okay with Ariel."

"We understand, dear." Emily smiled to her son.

"You've done really well..." Patrick patted Atticus on the head. "You're a real miracle."

"I've never been prouder." Jessica smiled, not even jealous.

"Thanks." Atticus smiled.

Ariel's sisters came to see her and Urchin. Ariel was very happy to see her sisters again, but she looked a little distant right now. Ariel's sisters and Atticus could were that and where he began to explain to them everything that happened.

"So, you went on land?" Alana asked.

"Ariel, what was it like?" Aquata asked.

"It was nice..." Ariel said softly. "But..."

Adriana looked at her. "But what...?"

Attina, being the oldest, seemed to sense something in her youngest sister. "It's that boy, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is, and I love him." Ariel told them.

"Is it true love?" Adella asked.

"I-I'm sure it is..." Ariel looked distant.

"And I love Darla..." Urchin admitted. "She's a great girl and she has a very angelic voice... I never knew she had it in her..."

"Awww! My little sister has her first love." Jessica awed.

Urchin blushed at that. Triton thought about his children being in love and thought of a solution.

"Uncle Triton, I know why you're thinking and I think its a perfect solution." Atticus smiled.

"Excuse me, I'd like to be alone for a little while..." Ariel went above the ocean to find Eric.

Urchin nodded to her and let her go.

Darla came into the water in her mermaid form, then snuck up behind Urchin. "So... You like me, huh?"

"Don't flatter yourself, Goldilocks." Urchin teasingly smirked to her.

"You so do love me." Darla smiled.

"Ah, shush..." Urchin shoved her.

"Nope, not buying it..." Darla shoved back.

The two then shoved each other and started to chase each other again.

"Can't catch me!" Darla laughed as she passed sponge beds.

"Oh, yes, I can!" Urchin laughed, taking a shortcut.

The others shook their heads and rolled their eyes to this with small and amused smirks for the two blonde kids. 

Triton came up to the surface with Atticus and Sebastian as Ariel found Eric on shore. "She really does love him, doesn't she?" he asked the crab and his nephew.

"She truly does." Atticus said.

"It's like I always say, Your Majesty," Sebastian added. "'Children got to be free to lead their own lives'."

Atticus gave him a glance. "You always say that?"

Sebastian shrugged innocently.

Triton sighed as he looked to his youngest daughter. "Then I guess there's just one problem left."

"And what's that, Your Majesty?" Sebastian asked.

"How much I'm going to miss her." Triton said with emotion before handing his trident over to his nephew.

Atticus carried the trident. "You want me to do it, sir?"

"You've earned it." Triton allowed him to.

"He is right, Atticus." Sebastian smiled.

Urchin popped his head out into the water, wading next to Darla.

"Would you like to become a human too?" Atticus asked his foster cousin.

"We were talking about that," Urchin replied. "The thing is... I already lost one family and I shouldn't lose another... Ariel is old enough to get married and live with Prince Eric on land, but I'm still just a kid... We have an agreement though... I'll only become a human whenever Darla wants me over to hang out or go on a date or whatever..." 

"But that'll be it," Darla added. "And, who knows? Maybe someday we'll grow up and get married."

"Then it is agreed upon then." Sebastian smiled.

"Atticus, you may do the honors." Triton said.

"Ladies first..." Atticus said, then gently rose the trident and zapped his favorite cousin.

Ariel smiled sadly to Eric, but she looked down as her tail fin was disappearing and her legs were coming back, this made her give an overjoyed smile. Eric slowly woke up and saw that Ariel was now given a glittery gown and she was walking towards him with open arms. They hugged happy to be reunited, after that, they got to share their very first true loves kiss. Best of all, Ariel kept her voice and they were going to live happily ever after and a wedding was arranged for the two of them.

Cherry closed the book and rolled her eyes. "Romance... Guh..."

"Oh, come on, Cherry." Darla said.

Cherry still rolled her eyes.

Darla looked at the shell Athena gave her the last time she was in Atlantica, she then blew a note on it. Bubbles came from the top of the water and Urchin popped his head out.

"You rang?" Urchin smirked to her.

"Oh, uh, hello..." Darla was surprised.

"Whenever you want to see me, just blow through the shell." Urchin smiled.

Darla smiled and gave Urchin a one-armed hug. And where he hugged her back.

"Take care of yourself..." Darla said to him.

"I will if you will... Goldilocks." Urchin chuckled, poking her nose.

"I sure will." Darla giggled.

Urchin chuckled with her.

Cherry groaned and left the scene. "Guh... Love... Emotion... Ow..."

"Hello." Forte's voice said.

"All right, come out..." Cherry folded her arms and tapped her foot.

"You're no fun..." Forte said to her, not showing up yet. 

"I don't need you to tell me that..." Cherry looked around for him.

Forte sighed before coming out from the corner of the hall.

Cherry stared out into the water, putting her hands together on her face as she sat down on the floor. "Everybody's falling in love except for me."

"Maybe someday, you will." Forte assured her.

"Nope." Cherry disagreed.

"Yes, you will." Forte said.

"No way." Cherry still disagreed.

"Are you going to Ariel and Prince Eric's wedding?" Forte asked her.

"Sure, right before I die." Cherry muttered.

"Would you like to see your future?" Forte asked.

Cherry glanced at him. "You can't travel into the future..."

"I found you after 300 years, didn't I?" Forte smirked.

Cherry narrowed her eyes even more. "Whatever."

"So?" Forte asked.

"Take me to the future, I guess..." Cherry shrugged. "Uncle Emmett said you shouldn't know too much about your own destiny though."

"I'll just show you." Forte said.

Cherry sighed. Forte then helped her up and took out his time travel device that was a pocket watch and set it. Cherry stared off into space drearily as she waited for them to go to the future.

After a little while, she was shown her future. 

"Okay, where are we?" Cherry asked.

"Don't worry, I activated a cloak over us to keep us from being seen by future witnesses." Forte said to her.

Cherry looked around. She looked to see she was alive and that she had children. Cherry looked through a window. She saw a son that took a lot after her and there was no way she could tell who the father would be.

"Now, are you satisfied?" Forte asked.

"I guess I do find love someday..." Cherry shrugged. 

"Yes, yes, you do." Forte nodded.

"Meh..." Cindy folded her arms. "Man, I feel bad for whatever sucker got stuck with that job."

"You'll find out, Cerise," Forte said as he turned away, holding a tiny black box in the palm of his hand. "You'll find out..."

Cherry didn't see that and just kept blankly staring out to the sea. 

"We better get ready." Forte said.

"Who says I'm going to some wedding...?" Cherry held her knees. "Besides, you don't even know the bride or groom." 

"That is true, but you should still go." Forte said.

"And if I refuse?" Cherry buried her face in the sand. 

"You'll be missing out on a wonderful wedding." Forte said.

"Weddings bore me..." Cherry ignored. "But... I don't have any WiFi, so I guess I'll come."

"Thank you, it'll make them happy." Forte smiled.

"Happiness is so depressing." Cherry quoted him. 

"Not all the time." Forte said.

"You said it, not me." Cherry reminded. 

"You're right, I did, but I didn't truly know about love or happiness back then." Forte frowned.

Cherry then picked herself up to take a shower. Forte followed, acting as a guardian to make sure she wouldn't get hurt or into any sort of trouble.

"I'm just taking a shower." Cherry said.

"Let me know if you need anything!" Forte called and laid out some clothes for her on her bed.

"Oh, my gosh..." Cherry grumbled.

"Okay, okay, I'm leaving." Forte said.

Cherry started the water, once she got to a comfortable temperature, she stepped inside and started to wash herself. After a while, she was finished with her bath.


	14. Chapter 14

Everybody, land and sea, was preparing for Ariel and Prince Eric's wedding. It was just like a fairy tale. Ariel's sisters were so proud of their baby sister for finally finding her true love and now they were going to be married. Darla was a little sad that Urchin was going to stay in the sea and she would stay on land, but if either of them left their homes, where would they live? Hopefully they could work something out once they would get older. But until then, they would have to go along with their deal.

"I wonder what would happen if Eric and Ariel had a baby?" Jessica asked out of the blue.

Emily's eyes widened to that. "I think the baby would become a half-mermaid half-human hybrid..."

"Yeah." Patrick nodded.

"That would be so cute..." Jessica giggled. "Oh, I hope we can meet the baby, hold the baby, play with the baby..."

"You like babies, huh?" Atticus smirked to his sister.

Jessica smiled bashfully. "Well... I'd like to be a mother someday... I just love playing with little kids."

"Yes, dear, we know." Emily giggled.

Triton came over to his family and apologized for everything that had happened, and soon, he was forgiven. Soon, it was time for the wedding and Ariel was getting ready on land while her friends and family would watch from the ocean. And where Atticus was the best man at the wedding as well as the ring bearer while Darla was the flower girl once again.

"Cherry, I want to thank you for helping my daughter, foster son, and nephew," Triton said to Cherry. "You really are a good friend, so I wish to reward you."

"No, it's okay..." Cherry didn't think she deserved a reward. "I'm fine just the way I am."

"No, I insist." Triton said.

"What is it?" Cherry asked.

"I took the liberty to make this for you..." Triton held out his hand to show a shining necklace that had a golden musical note attached to the end of it.

"Um... Thanks..." Cherry wore the necklace as she kept her feet in the water, however, the necklace glowed and so did her legs and she was given her own tail fin. "What the what!?"

"You can now breathe and swim underwater." Triton explained.

"Hmm... Thanks, I suppose..." Cherry wasn't sure if she liked that or not.

"And you can visit us whenever you want." Triton told her.

"Thank you, sir..." Cherry said respectfully at least as she looked to her new trinket from this adventure.

"You're quite welcome." Triton smiled.

It was now time for the wedding and to wrap up the 'fairy tale'. Ariel wore a white gown with hints of gold to compliment her royal heritage and Eric wore a royal suit to show his royalty as well. They were getting married on a boat together and would go on their honeymoon and start their new lives together as Ariel got to live in her dreams as a human in the human world.

Everything was going perfectly well, except of when Sebastian got spotted on the cake by Louis. Chef Louis spotted the crab and was about to kill him. Sebastian screamed and escaped, which nearly caused the cake to end up being destroyed, but luckily for him, he made it back into the water to join Urchin, Scuttle, and Flounder as he got away swiftly.

"Great escape, Sebastian." Urchin smiled.

Sebastian chuckled and bowed in the water. "Thank you... Thank you..."

Ariel and Eric had their newlywed kiss and Ariel tossed her bridal bouquet. And where it landed right into Cherry's hands.

"Oh, gunk me..." Cherry grumbled that she had caught the flowers.

"You're supposed to get married next..." Forte said to her. "Who knows who'll pop the question?"

Cherry shrugged and lightly clapped for Ariel and Eric.

"I can't believe Ariel got married before me!" Adella nearly exploded.

This caused for her sisters to roll their eyes.

After the wedding, it was time for the Butler family to pack up and get ready to go back home. What an unexpected vacation this had become. None of them were sure if they liked it or not, but they would not forget it.

Darla ended up singing one of her songs as she was venturing around the ocean floor and taking a closer look at the things. "Now the people, they were so bad... That the Lord made the rain come down... And He washed away the bad cities, and he washed away the bad towns... That all of the people drowned!~"

"I think that's what I'm going to miss most of all." Urchin's voice said. He was watching Darla as she was having one of her musical moments.

Darla then looked over to Urchin and let out a small gasp, grabbing her chest.

"So, you're really leaving, huh?" Urchin swam up in front of her with his hands behind his back.

"Yeah, I gotta go to school soon and visit Amber and all..." Darla shrugged.

"Before you go, I'd like you to have this..." Urchin handed her beautiful coral.

"Thank you, Urchin." Darla smiled.

"Just a little something to think of me by, I guess..." urchin smiled bashfully.

Darla gave him a surprise kiss on the cheek. And where it did indeed surprise him as he now blushed from it.

Darla smiled to him and her new coral plant. "Thanks, Urchin... For everything."

"You're welcome." Urchin smiled back.

Darla smiled and patted him on the head. "Take care of yourself until the next time I come back."

"I sure will, I'm gonna start lifting weights." Urchin said, trying to show some muscles.

Darla giggled at this.

"Come on, Darla!" Emily called. "Time to go home!"

"Well, this is it, see you around the wayside, Urchin." Darla said, putting the coral into Ariel's old duffle bag that was given to her as a gift and she swam off to join her family back home.

"See ya, Darla!" Urchin called back.

"Ready to get in shape, kid?" A muscular octopus asked Urchin.

"You bet!" Urchin smirked. "I'm gonna be as big and strong as Atticus!"

"Let's see about that." the octopus chuckled, but loved his enthusiasm.

The Fudo family gave their goodbyes, but, as always, they promised to visit and returned to the surface to get back to their homes. Cherry left with her family as well.

"Ready to leave?" Michelle asked.

"Yeah, I got everything." Cherry told her mother.

"Go wait in the car, there's a pillow and blanket for you." Michelle told her.

Cherry nodded and went to the backseat and lay down since it was a long drive back home.

"See you later next time." Forte said.

Cherry put her hand up and shut her eyes as she decided to get some sleep. The Butlers and the Fudos drove off for home after their mermaid adventure. 

"You all right, Ariel?" Eric asked his new wife.

"Yes, I just wish my mother could've seen this day..." Ariel said softly. 

Eric gave her a hug. "I know what you mean."

Unknown to them, her mother was watching over her.

"I'll see you inside, okay?" Eric smiled to her.

Ariel smiled back. "I'll be just a minute."

Eric then went inside. Ariel then looked back at the luminous moon and the air gently blew against her face and her crimson hair waved in the wind.

"I miss you as well, Ariel." Athena's voice echoed.

Ariel wasn't sure if she actually heard that or if it was her imagination. Either way, she was glad she heard her mother's voice and it sounded just like how she remembered it. She was happy that she found herself a true love, got married, and got to live happily of how she wanted to since she was now a married woman and was going to start a whole new life now that she was finally part of the human world. This had to be the greatest thing to have ever happen to her.

The End


End file.
